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On the campaign trail, Donald Trump promised to free the oil and gas industry from federal regulations aimed at slowing climate change.
Last week, the president-elect said the U.S. “has more liquid gold than any other country in the world,” and again pledged to deliver on that promise, a promise that climate change policy experts and advocates say , it would also mean weakening or eliminating federal regulations aimed at climate change. Slowing down climate change.
President Trump, who falsely said climate change is a hoax, may have an ally in Texas. The state supplies more than 40% of the nation’s oil, and a Republican chairs the Texas Railroad Commission, the state’s oil and gas regulator. It’s also where Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed dozens of lawsuits against the federal government, challenging the Biden administration’s federal environmental regulations.
Already, climate change advocates are preparing to defend existing federal environmental protections that curb harmful air pollutants and greenhouse gases.
“Most of the Biden administration’s accomplishments[on environmental policy]were done through the president’s executive authority and rulemaking, and those rules can’t be reversed,” said Adrienne Shelley, Texas state director for the government watchdog group Public Citizen. I can do it.” “While we cannot read the content of each individual rule, the Trump administration will move quickly to roll back as many rules as possible.”
Meanwhile, oil and gas industry leaders expect the administration to support policies that accelerate and encourage fossil fuel production. Industry leaders said they would continue to comply with air pollution regulations, but added that methane reporting requirements needed to be relaxed.
“It’s no secret that there has been a lot of disagreement over the past three and a half years about the Biden administration’s energy policy,” said Dustin Myers, senior vice president of policy, economics and regulatory affairs at the American Petroleum Institute. said. “At times it felt like energy was really under a regulatory barrage, so our message to the incoming administration is centered around key priorities.”
Sherry said the new president is expected to further wipe out his predecessor’s environmental regulations, and the transition to a second Trump administration will again cause “regulatory whiplash.”
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These are key climate measures that industry and advocates expect will change after Trump takes office.
methane reduction
Oil and gas advocacy groups say they hope the rules related to methane emissions will change, saying they are contradictory and confusing.
The Biden administration has approved rules to reduce the amount of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that acts like a blanket in the atmosphere, trapping heat and preventing the atmosphere from cooling. The first-of-its-kind rule, developed with industry input, requires operators to identify and repair equipment leaking methane. The initiative also aims to contribute to the fight against new and orphaned oil and gas wells and curb excessive natural gas flaring and combustion practices. The aim is to prevent 58 million tonnes of methane from being released into the atmosphere between 2024 and 2038.
Another rule is the wasteful emissions fee passed in 2022 under the Inflation Control Act. It imposes fines on certain oil and gas facilities that exceed EPA-prescribed standards to deter so-called superemitters, or operators that emit large amounts of methane. . Fines this year start at $900 per ton of methane and jump to $1,500 per ton of methane by 2026.
The Inflation Control Act also included efforts to expand methane emissions reporting requirements as part of a program called Subpart W.
John Goldstein, vice president of energy transition at the Environmental Defense Fund, said the rule was designed to ensure operators follow federal regulations.
“If you’re concerned about fees and don’t want to be exposed to them, it makes sense to comply,” he said.
Ben Shepherd, president of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, said reporting requirements change from regulation to regulation, making it difficult for operators to understand what information they need to submit to which agencies. . He said the rule also affects small businesses that don’t have the same resources as big energy companies.
“I think the agency has gone further than originally intended,” Shepherd said. “And it … affects small-scale producers as well. This creates a huge economic bottleneck that, if left unchecked, will have a real impact on large parts of the industry.”
Even if passed by the executive branch or Congress, it would take years to reinstate this rule. For example, federal methane regulations will need to be revisited by federal regulators to determine which parts to keep or eliminate. Repealing federal regulations would also require input from the public. Environmental policy experts said what was passed in the law needs to be reconsidered by Congress.
liquefied natural gas
The Biden administration announced in January that it would suspend exports of liquefied natural gas until licensing requirements that are more than five years old are renewed. The decision comes as Biden ramps up efforts to phase out dependence on fossil fuels.
This is a victory for environmental groups in Texas, especially those on the Gulf Coast, which have been fighting the expansion of LNG plants that emit carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and volatile organic compounds. Studies have shown that these pollutants can cause headaches, coughs, dizziness, and other respiratory illnesses.
The suspension drew ire from the oil and gas industry, which saw it as another way for the president to undermine international energy security. Industry leaders said they expect the Trump administration to lift the moratorium.
“We thought from the beginning that this was political and incredibly misguided,” said the Petroleum Institute’s Myers. “So we absolutely call on the incoming administration to lift that moratorium and begin processing applications as quickly as possible.”
A Cornell University study found that the extraction, processing, and transportation of liquefied natural gas account for half of the greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas.
Overhaul permission
The oil and gas industry also plans to lobby for an overhaul of permitting and environmental reviews to reduce the time it takes to approve permits and speed up the timeline for boosting fossil fuel production.
“We look forward to this Congress working on a strong and comprehensive permitting reform bill that includes streamlining the National Environmental Policy Act,” Shepherd said. “And we are working to streamline these processes and compress timelines so that current applications are not delayed for years.”
In particular, industry groups said key priorities include establishing time frames for environmental reviews, clarifying the ability to file legal challenges, and reforming the Clean Water Act so it cannot be used to block energy projects.
Compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, which federal agencies review and evaluate as part of an extensive permitting process that includes public testimony, can take several years.
Under the law, energy projects can be legally challenged up to three years after federal environmental regulators complete their review. Industry groups want to shorten that period to 180 days.
Disclosure: The Environmental Defense Fund and the Permian Basin Petroleum Association have financially supported the Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by contributions from members, foundations, and corporate sponsors. . Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. See the complete list of them here.
