Breaking News · October 28, 2026, 9:22 PM CDT
As reported by NPR:
The Trump administration is proposing to dramatically scale back a Biden-era rule that aimed to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas industry at drilling sites nationwide.
Methane is a major contributor to climate change and is estimated to be 80 times more planet-warming than carbon dioxide in a twenty-year time frame.
In 2023, the Biden administration finalized rules that were meant to rein in methane emissions from the oil and gas sector.
President Trump made the announcement while campaigning in Lubbock, Texas, Tuesday, saying his administration's revision, under the Clean Air Act, would save the industry billions in production costs and spur more domestic drilling.
The proposal comes as Republicans face a backlash from voters over high gas prices heading into the midterms.
"Behind every barrel of oil and every cubic foot of natural gas produced in the U.S. are millions of workers, businesses, and the heartbeat of this nation's economy.[1]
Where It Happened
The pin marks Lubbock as named in the report, not an exact address. Map data: OpenStreetMap contributors. Street photo (2014): Fredlyfish4, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
On the record
"We look forward to working with the Trump administration on a more workable approach that supports American energy production, provides greater regulatory certainty and advances continued emissions reductions," Dustin Meyer, vice president at the American Petroleum Institute, a trade organization for the U.S. oil and gas industry, said in a statement.[1]
“Tonight, I’m officially terminating Biden’s expensive and unnecessary methane regulations to save consumers and energy producers,” Trump said, lifting what he called “crippling regulations on methane that caused prices to skyrocket” for small oil and gas operators.[2]
The numbers in the reporting
How 5 outlets are reporting it
- Trump administration wants to remove regulations on a super planet-heating gas (NPR)
- Trump kills methane rule days after a plume was found near his rally (Politico)
- Trump Moves to Weaken Methane Emissions Rules for Oil and Gas (WSJ)
- Trump tells Texas campaign rally crowd he’s rolling back environmental rules to curb methane pollution – as it happened (The Guardian)
- Trump announces end of Biden-era methane rule, citing $45B in savings (Fox Business)
What The Guardian reports
Speaking in Lubbock, Texas on Tuesday, Donald Trump announced a rollback of federal rules issued by the Biden administration in 2023 to force oil and gas companies to cut their emissions of methane, a “super pollutant” gas that traps heat in the atmosphere.
“Tonight, I’m officially terminating Biden’s expensive and unnecessary methane regulations to save consumers and energy producers,” Trump said, lifting what he called “crippling regulations on methane that caused prices to skyrocket” for small oil and gas operators.
In a press release, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator, Lee Zeldin, priased what he called Trump’s move “to end the war on oil and natural gas” by revising oil and natural gas regulations under the Clean Air Act.[2]
What is not yet confirmed
- In Brazil, he is under investigation for alleged corruption, money laundering and currency evasion, and was ordered to surrender his passports.[2]
What the official record says
EPA says, in its own words:
For notifications and owner/operator responses received prior to the Interim Final Rule, see the Methane Super Emitter Data Explorer.[3]
The Methane Super Emitter Program was established in the EPA’s New Source Performance Standards and Emissions Guidelines to reduce emissions of methane and other harmful air pollution from oil and natural gas operations.[3]
EPA says, in its own words:
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a final rule that will sharply reduce methane and other harmful air pollutants from the oil and natural gas industry, including from hundreds of thousands of existing sources nationwide, promote the use of cutting-edge methane detection technologies, and deliver significant economic and public health benefits.[4]
Oil and natural gas operations are the nation’s largest industrial source of methane, a climate “super pollutant” that is many times more potent than carbon dioxide and is responsible for approximately one third of the warming from greenhouse gases occurring today.[4]
EPA says, in its own words:
EPA Proposes Major New Revisions to Burdensome, Unworkable Biden-era Oil and Natural Gas Regulations WASHINGTON – Today, in Lubbock, Texas, President Trump and U.S.[5]
“Today’s revision rolls back reckless Biden-era red tape to unlock an estimated 210 million barrels of American oil and deliver an estimated $45 billion in taxpayer savings.[5]
How to Verify This Yourself
Each headline above links to that outlet’s own report. The quoted passages come from the first two of those reports that could be retrieved in full.
References
- NPR. Trump administration wants to remove regulations on a super planet-heating gas. ↩
- The Guardian. Trump tells Texas campaign rally crowd he’s rolling back environmental rules to curb methane pollution – as it happened. ↩
- EPA. Methane Super Emitter Program | US EPA Primary (official source) ↩
- EPA. Biden-Harris Administration Finalizes Standards to Slash Methane Pollution, Combat Climate Change, Protect Health, and Bolster American Inno Primary (official source) ↩
- EPA. EPA Proposes Major New Revisions to Burdensome, Unworkable Biden-era Oil and Natural Gas Regulations | US EPA Primary (official source) ↩
Investigative methodology: this story was selected because 5 separate news organizations were reporting it at the same time. The quoted text is verbatim from the cited reports; nothing is paraphrased or added. Produced by scripts/breaking_news_monitor.py, not a language model.
Kemetic Minds Editorial Desk
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