A key component of former President Joe Biden’s climate program to regulate the planet-warming “super pollutant” has been dismantled by the Republican-controlled Congress, which voted to eliminate a government charge on oil and gas firms that emit excessive quantities of methane. It was anticipated that the charge, which had not yet been implemented, would generate billions of dollars.
After a comparable vote in the House on Wednesday, the Senate followed suit on Thursday, voting 52–47 to eliminate the charge. It is anticipated that President Donald Trump would sign the package now that it has passed Congress.
Around one-third of the world’s warming has been attributed to methane, a gas with a far larger global warming potential than carbon dioxide, particularly in the near term. To combat climate change, it is essential to limit methane emissions from the oil and gas industry, which is among the top polluters in the United States.
The charge is now set at $900 per ton and is expected to rise to $1,500 by 2026. However, the majority of big oil and gas corporations do not produce enough methane to be subject to this fee. Although the EPA officially established regulations at the end of last year, the policy was included in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
Due to its finalization at the conclusion of the president’s term, it was susceptible to the Congressional Review Act, which permits Congress to enact a resolution to overturn rules. The regulation will be canceled and agencies will not be able to issue another one like it if those resolutions pass and the president signs them.
“It’s disheartening that Congress is so focused on rewarding the most corrupt individuals in the fossil fuel industry,” expressed Tyson Slocum, head of the energy program at Public Citizen.
The biggest oil and gas industry lobbying organization, the American Petroleum Institute, was pleased with the decision and criticized the levy as a “duplicative, punitive tax on American energy production that stifles innovation.”
“Given the efforts of the industry, methane emissions have been steadily falling alongside rising production. We are in favor of further reducing these emissions through well-thought-out regulations,” stated Amanda Eversole, API’s executive vice president and chief advocacy officer.
Atmospheric methane concentrations have been rising on a worldwide scale.
On the Senate floor, West Virginia Republican and chair of the Environment and Public Works committee, Shelley Moore Capito, spoke in support of repeal.
Instead of cutting back, we ought to be increasing our output of natural gas. She said that the opposite would be true: that the natural gas tax will limit production in the United States, which would raise energy costs and encourage Russia to enhance its natural gas output.
The producer loses money since it can’t save the gas that escapes after a leak.
The leading Democrat on the environment panel, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, stated, “Republicans are helping out the absolutely worst offenders of methane leakage.” Companies are only required to pay the methane charge if they fail to prevent the release of a hazardous, explosive, and toxic greenhouse gas, as stated by the industry standard.
The repeal of the methane charge is only one of several actions done by Republicans since Trump’s inauguration that support the oil and gas industry. More oil and gas output and less environmental evaluations were his first orders after declaring a national energy emergency on his first day in office. No change came from yesterday’s Democratic vote on the matter. Among Trump’s other actions: the lifting of a moratorium on new LNG export terminal applications, the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris climate accord, and the opening of further public lands and waterways to oil and gas drilling.
Companies were encouraged to use better methods to reduce emissions and improve operational efficiency through the implementation of the methane release tax. According to the EPA, the tax is projected to decrease methane emissions by 1.2 million metric tons by 2035, which is equivalent to taking 8 million automobiles off the road for one year.
Following its efforts to control methane emissions from newly-drilled wells, the Biden administration expanded their methane controls to include already-established oil and gas wells. The original intent of the charge, according to the EPA, was to target the most egregious offenders and supplement that rule.
A recent research found that smaller producers account for almost half of all well methane emissions.
