Biden administration reveals latest offensive on greenhouse gas emissions at UN climate conference

The Biden administration finalized environmental regulations targeting methane and other air pollutants generated by the U.S. oil and gas industry at hundreds of thousands of existing sources across the country.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, along with White House Climate Czar Ali Zaidi, Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, and climate advocates, announced the rulemaking during a press conference at the COP28 United Nations climate summit in Dubai on Saturday morning. The Biden administration said the action was among the “most critical” it could take to “slow the pace of climate change.”
“On day one, President Biden reestablished America’s critical role as a global leader in addressing climate change, and today we backed up that commitment with bold action, significantly reducing emissions of methane and other air pollutants that endanger communities,” Regan said in a statement, adding that the rule “will reduce climate pollution, protecting people and the planet.”
“Under the leadership of President Biden and Vice President Harris, the United States is driving the speed and scale of climate action, at home and abroad, including our collective efforts to address superpollutants like methane,” Zaidi added. “Over the past year alone, the Administration has taken more than 100 actions to implement the U.S. Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan—actions that reduce pollution, promote public health, create thousands of jobs, and reduce energy costs for Americans.
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President Biden speaks with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan during a White House event on environmental justice earlier this year. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Grisham, whose state pumped the second-most crude oil in the United States last year, boasted that the regulations closely mirror New Mexico’s proposed rules, saying they will reduce emissions and spur innovation across the country.
Overall, under regulations, an estimated 58 million tons of methane emissions would be avoided between 2024 and 2038, according to the EPA. That’s equivalent to 1.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide and about the same amount emitted by the energy sector in 2021.
For years, environmentalists and Democrats have called for stricter regulations against methane, which activists call a “super pollutant” and which is much more potent than carbon dioxide.
The regulations include rigorous new standards that force the energy industry to reduce methane emissions, primarily by incorporating advanced technology such as pollution control equipment and aerial controls, sensor networks and satellites. Additionally, it phases in a requirement to eliminate routine natural gas flaring, the release of gas produced during oil drilling operations that lack capture technology.
The finalized regulations introduce the so-called Super Emitters Program, which will use third parties to detect large methane emissions.

A natural gas flare burns near an oil pump jack at the New Harmony oil field in Grayville, Illinois, on June 19, 2022. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“As the world comes together to address the climate crisis, the United States now has the most protective methane pollution limits,” Fred Krupp, president of the leftist Environmental Defense Fund, said in a statement. “EPA’s limits on oil and gas methane pollution are a vital victory for the climate and public health, dramatically reducing warming pollution and providing vital clean air protections to millions of Americans.”
“The fact that other countries are also focusing on methane as a key climate risk is a signal to operators around the world that the time has come to clean up,” Krupp continued. “EPA has shown tremendous leadership in establishing these leading clean air standards, and we look forward to working with states and EPA to move quickly on implementation. Communities that fought long and hard for these protections now need to start reaping their benefits “.
In a statement Saturday morning, the American Petroleum Institute, the largest U.S. oil and gas lobby group, said it was reviewing the rules but also was committed to reducing methane emissions.
“We share the administration’s goal of reducing methane emissions and smart federal regulation can help build on the industry’s progress to date,” said API Senior Vice President of Policy, Economics and Regulatory Affairs Dustin Meyer. “To be truly effective, this rule must balance emissions reductions with the need to continue meeting growing energy demand. We are reviewing the complex rule to ensure it meets that dual goal.”
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The EPA rules come as other nations are expected to issue similar pledges to reduce methane emissions during COP28 that began Thursday. They also come as world leaders and U.S. lawmakers have called for aggressive action.
The executive director of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, said in November that curbing methane emissions “is one of the best – and most affordable – opportunities to limit global warming in the short term.” Additionally, in a letter to Regan on Thursday, Democratic Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse and Tom Carper, and House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, called on the EPA to finalize the rules.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., said methane regulations would lead to higher prices for Americans. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The EPA first proposed the regulations last year during COP27, the 2022 U.N. climate summit in Egypt. That proposal strengthened a 2021 proposal.
However, Republican lawmakers and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, D-Va., have joined calls opposing the methane rules, saying they will force cuts in oil and gas production while raising costs. for American consumers.
“Over the next year, EPA plans to finalize multiple connected regulatory actions that will increase costs and reduce American energy production. Energy prices are projected to increase for American families due to new methane regulations, expanded of emissions monitoring and reporting requirements, and a new methane tax,” House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and House Environment Subcommittee Chairman wrote to Regan. Environment, Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, on November 7.
“EPA’s expanded regulatory burden creates substantial legal and regulatory uncertainty, and the Congressional Budget Office determined that a tax on methane emissions will increase operating costs, reduce energy production, and increase the price of natural gas.” , they added.
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Manchin wrote separately to Regan in October, saying the rule showed the Biden administration was determined to “target our burgeoning oil and gas sector” and would put “energy and national security at risk.”