Trump eliminates major methane rule, even as leaks are worsening

The Trump administration formally weakened a major climate change regulation Thursday — effectively freeing oil and gas companies from the need to detect and repair methane leaks — even as new research shows that far more of the potent greenhouse gas is seeping into the atmosphere than previously known.

The rollback of the last major Obama-era climate rule is a gift to many beleaguered oil and gas companies, which have seen profits collapse from the COVID-19 pandemic. But it comes as scientists say that the need to rein in methane leaks at fossil fuel wells nationwide has become far more urgent, and new studies indicate that the scale of methane pollution could be driving the planet toward a climate crisis faster than expected.

Andrew Wheeler, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, which completed the legal process of lifting the methane regulation Thursday, has justified the move by citing EPA data showing that leaks from domestic oil and gas wells have remained steady over the past decade, even as oil and gas production boomed.

However, numerous recent studies show the opposite: that methane emissions from drilling sites in the United States are far more extensive than the EPA’s official numbers. Overall, methane levels are in fact climbing steadily nationwide, according to the research, and have reached record highs globally in part because of leaks from fossil fuel production.

Several scientists said that the key reason for the discrepancy between their studies and the EPA’s numbers was the thoroughness of the methods used to detect methane. To compile its annual inventory of methane emissions, the EPA relies on a mix of self-reported data from companies themselves, and some on-site testing of drilling wells, pipes and other equipment.

“There are blind spots in the EPA’s testing — they were missing all these sources of the leaks,” said Ramón Alvarez, a lead author of the 2018 paper and an atmospheric chemist at the Environmental Defense Fund, an advocacy group.

An EPA spokesman, James Hewitt, contested that assertion. “EPA’s final methane rule is based on the most accurate and comprehensive accounting of our nation’s greenhouse gas emissions profile, which is performed by agency scientists based on data from a variety of sources, including the agency’s greenhouse gas inventory, the greenhouse gas reporting program, new studies, and comments received on the proposal. We stand by our numbers and analysis,” he said.