Trump announces end of Biden-era methane rules, as critics warn of climate danger

US President Donald Trump has announced that his administration is ending Biden-era regulations on methane emissions. Speaking at a rally in Lubbock, Texas, on Tuesday evening, he said the administration was “terminating” rules that held oil and gas companies accountable for large leaks of planet-warming methane.

Trump said the change would save consumers and energy producers $45 billion and unlock an additional 210 million barrels of oil, equivalent to about 10 days of US petroleum consumption. At the rally he said: “Tonight, I’m officially terminating Biden’s expensive and unnecessary methane regulations to save consumers and energy producers.” He argued that the rules had placed a crippling burden on small oil and gas operators and driven prices up.

In a press release, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Lee Zeldin praised the move, saying it would end what he called the “war on oil and natural gas” by revising oil and natural gas regulations under the Clean Air Act. According to the EPA, the proposal is expected to save $45 billion in costs to consumers and businesses, including small businesses operating marginal wells, and produce an estimated 210 million additional barrels of oil and 1.41 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

The move aims to encourage more domestic drilling, as Trump faces criticism over high fuel prices stemming from the US war in Iran.

The 2024 methane rule required oil and gas operators to eliminate and minimise leaking, flaring and venting of methane and of volatile organic compounds, which are harmful to human health. It was the first time the federal government had set nationwide requirements to limit methane emissions from existing oil and gas facilities. An earlier rule finalised under the Obama administration in 2016 applied only to new and modified sources. Under the 2024 rule’s super emitter programme, companies had to investigate major leaks near oil and gas facilities detected by third parties using EPA-approved remote sensing technology.

In March 2025, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin announced that the agency was reconsidering the Biden-Harris regulations, to ensure they did not prevent America from unleashing energy dominance and continuing its trajectory as a leader in clean energy and emissions reductions.

Critics, however, warn that the decision is dangerous for the climate. Last year, the US emitted more methane from its oil and gas sector than any other country in the world. Methane is responsible for at least a quarter of today’s warming.

According to trade association materials and records obtained via the Freedom of Information Act by Fieldnotes, an oil and gas watchdog organisation, some oil and gas executives spoke publicly in favour of the landmark methane rule, while industry trade groups and corporations worked behind the scenes to gut it. Fieldnotes researcher Julia Kane said the oil and gas industry describes itself as a good-faith partner eager to help craft regulations, but time and again it has worked behind the scenes to delay and weaken them. The records show that industry groups and companies met with the EPA to discuss methane regulations at least 38 times during the current administration’s first year.

Kane said the industry groups themselves were pleasantly surprised by their access under Trump. She cited Independent Petroleum Association of America executive Lee Fuller, who described a discussion with EPA staff on a conference call last year as one of the most fascinating meetings they had ever had, because EPA staff were suddenly willing to talk to them and to discuss things they had been trying to get done for years.

At a Trump rally in Corpus Christi earlier the same day, Trump singled out Harold Hamm, saying the founder of Continental Resources was in the audience. In April, Continental Resources wrote a letter to the EPA pushing back against measures in the methane rule that prohibit routine flaring of associated gas.

Since the EPA announced in March 2025 that it would no longer enforce oil and gas regulations, oil and gas operators have leaked, vented or flared $7 billion worth of natural gas, according to calculations by the Environmental Defense Fund. Rosalie Winn, senior director and lead counsel at the Environmental Defense Fund, said the Trump administration was seeking to curtail the federal government’s ability to do anything to address climate pollution across all of the largest sectors responsible for emissions.

Winn said the administration was enabling the worst polluters in the industry to keep making ever more money off the back of American consumers while wasting energy.