EPA Proposes Weakening Methane Rules for Oil and Gas Industry

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a proposal to significantly weaken 2024 methane regulations for the oil and gas sector, a move that critics say will increase air pollution and waste billions of dollars in natural gas. The proposal follows a preview given earlier this month by EPA Administrator Zeldin during a closed-door industry event in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

This shift in policy represents a sharp pivot from the 2024 standards, moving toward what some advocates describe as the complete deregulation of methane under the Clean Air Act. For the average American, the stakes aren’t just environmental; they are economic. When methane—the primary component of natural gas—leaks into the atmosphere, it isn’t just a potent greenhouse gas; it’s a sellable product disappearing into thin air.

The Seven Billion Dollar Leak

The financial scale of the waste is staggering. According to the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), oil and gas operations have leaked, vented, or flared more than $7 billion worth of gas since the Trump administration stopped enforcing methane standards. To put that number in perspective, that volume of wasted gas is enough to fuel every single home in Texas, California, and Pennsylvania for an entire year, or fill more than 600 LNG tankers.

“America needs more energy, not more energy waste,” said Fred Krupp, President of Environmental Defense Fund. “Weakening protections that prevent this waste would give a free pass to operators unwilling to adopt proven practices at the expense of the American people.”

The “so what” of this policy change hits hardest in the producing states. While the EPA aims to reduce the regulatory burden on companies, the result is often a transfer of cost. When gas is wasted through leaks, the supply chain loses efficiency, and the communities living near these wells breathe the resulting pollutants. The Clean Air Task Force (CATF) warns that the proposal defies the EPA’s obligation under the Clean Air Act to protect public health and welfare.

EPA Proposes Weakening Methane Rules for Oil and Gas Industry — Photo: catf.us

Bipartisan Support for Strict Rules

Interestingly, the industry’s push for deregulation doesn’t seem to align with the views of the people living in the heart of oil country. New polling conducted by Global Strategy Group on behalf of the Environmental Defense Fund shows that a vast majority of likely 2026 voters in five major oil-producing states—California, Colorado, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Texas—actually want strong methane rules.

The data shows a surprising level of consensus across the political aisle:

Overall Support: 72% of voters across the five states support strong rules to reduce methane emissions, including regular inspections of low-producing wells.
Texas: Support for these protections stands at 74%.
Party Breakdown: 90% of Democrats, 70% of independents, and 54% of Republicans support the protections.

This suggests that even in states where the oil and gas industry is a primary economic engine, there is a recognized value in preventing waste and pollution. Many major companies have already committed to reducing these emissions, meaning the new EPA proposal may primarily benefit operators who refuse to adopt proven, cost-effective leak detection and repair technologies.

The Regulatory Vacuum

Darin Schroeder, Methane Legal and Regulatory Director at CATF, argues that the proposal sets the stage for total deregulation. If the federal government abdicates its authority, the obligation for individual states to address existing pollution sources vanishes.

From a counter-argument perspective, Administrator Zeldin has touted loopholes in the 2024 methane regulations to the oil and gas industry.

However, the trade-off is a measurable increase in atmospheric methane. Because methane is far more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide in the short term, the environmental impact is immediate. The Clean Air Task Force argues that the agency must rescind this proposal and implement the 2024 rule without delay to prevent further harm to public health.

The battle now moves from the agency’s offices to the public comment period and, likely, the courts. With a majority of Republicans in Texas supporting methane protections, the political calculus for this rollback may be more complicated than the EPA anticipates.