Senate votes to immediately reinstate Obama-era methane rules scrapped by Trump

(Image credit: Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images)

published 29 April 2021

The Senate on Wednesday voted 52-42 to restore regulations on methane gas leaks in oil and gas production that the Trump administration had loosened last summer. Three Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), and Rob Portman (Ohio) — voted with the Democrats to overturn former President Donald Trump's rule using the Congressional Review Act, a 1996 law that lets Congress kill recently adopted regulations. Curbing methane emissions is a key element of President Biden's push to fight climate change.

The House has not yet voted to restore the methane rules, instituted by former President Barack Obama's Environmental Protection Agency in 2016. The oil and gas industry had originally lobbied against the methane rules, which require oil and gas companies to monitor their equipment for leaking methane and repair any breaches. But many large oil and gas producers, and their main lobbying group the American Petroleum Institute, now support regulating methane emissions.

Methane is the main component of natural gas, and it drives more than 25 percent of global warming, mostly from leaks during the production and transportation of natural gas, The Wall Street Journal explains. "Combating methane emissions can create a more immediate effect than cutting carbon because methane is more than 80 times more potent than carbon over a 20-year period, although it degrades faster in the atmosphere compared to carbon, which lingers for 100 years."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

"Regulating methane is the low-hanging fruit of climate action," said Sen. Angus King (I-Maine). "It's the most significant immediate thing we can do."

Explore More

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.