Trump EPA moves to ease methane leak rules for oil wells a week before the midterms

One week before the Nov. 3 midterm election, the Trump administration moved Tuesday to weaken Biden-era limits on methane leaking from oil and gas wells. A White House official said President Donald Trump would announce the plan at a campaign rally in Lubbock, Texas, for Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton ¹¹². Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin was set to appear with him ⁴.

Methane is the main ingredient in natural gas, and it is a powerful planet-warming gas. Scientists estimate it makes up about a third of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions ¹. The proposal would ease rules for small, low-output wells. It would also end a program that let outside groups report large methane leaks and loosen rules on routine flaring, which means burning off extra gas at oil wells ².

The administration is selling the plan on cost. An EPA official told the Washington Free Beacon that it would save Americans about $45 billion in energy costs and add 210 million barrels of oil and 1.41 trillion cubic feet of natural gas ⁴. The Daily Caller reported that the added output would come between 2027 and 2050 ³. The Free Beacon noted that this equals about 10 days of U.S. oil use and 15 days of natural gas use, and that the figures come from the administration, not from an independent analysis ⁴.

Americans must be able to afford to heat their homes in the winter and fill up their car and drive to work.

What the proposal would change

The plan is not final. The EPA will take public comments for at least 45 days after the proposal appears in the Federal Register, the government's daily record of new rules, and will also hold a public hearing ³. The agency is offering two ways to sort well sites: by how much they produce, or by whether they are conventional or unconventional wells ³.

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Most of the debate is about low-output "stripper wells," which produce up to 15 barrels a day ⁵. These wells supply about 6% of the nation's oil and gas but are responsible for up to half of the methane released from oil and gas fields ¹. Under a draft ProPublica reviewed in September, the EPA did not calculate how the rollback would affect health or the environment ⁵.

The plan would also end the Super Emitter Program, which used certified outside monitors to flag large leaks ³. For gas that comes up with oil, the plan would bring back flaring at 95% efficiency, or another control device, as the standard ³. The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), an environmental group, says its research found flaring caused $5.6 billion in U.S. health and climate costs in 2023 ⁸.

What the Biden rule promised

The Biden rule was published in 2024 but never fully took effect, and the EPA delayed it by 18 months last year ¹. It was expected to prevent 58 million tons of methane emissions by 2038 and to deliver $98 billion in benefits by 2034. Zeldin says it would have cost $18 billion ¹. The rule also limited volatile organic compounds ¹⁰.

A separate methane fee from the 2022 climate law would have charged up to $1,500 per metric ton of methane. Congress repealed it weeks after Trump took office ¹. EDF says the administration stopped enforcing oil and gas methane rules on March 12, 2025, and that the industry has leaked, vented or flared nearly $7 billion worth of natural gas since then ⁸.

It will impose a heavier pollution burden on our front-line communities and make our energy sector less efficient.

Who benefits

ProPublica reported in June that Jeffery Hildebrand, founder of the Texas oil company Hilcorp, is a major Trump donor whose company buys older, low-output wells. ProPublica also reported that Aaron Szabo, a former Hilcorp lobbyist, now oversees the EPA's climate rules. A Hilcorp spokesperson said the company is fully compliant with state and federal rules ⁶.

Andrew Logan of Ceres, a group that works with investors, put the trade-off simply: "If you could lose 6% of production and cut emissions in half, who wouldn't make that trade?" ⁶

It's about padding the pockets of oil and gas operators and saddling society with the costs.

Democrats push back

Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado, a Democrat, criticized the plan when Zeldin first previewed it in early October ⁷. As Colorado's governor, he brought industry and environmental groups together to monitor methane leaks ⁷. EDF says Colorado and New Mexico already have strong protections for low-producing wells and flaring ⁸.

The Trump administration is pushing policies that will allow more pollutants into our air.

The timing is political. Trump spent Tuesday in Texas, where Paxton is running against Democrat James Talarico ². The national average price of regular gas was $4.27 a gallon on Oct. 27, according to AAA ¹¹.

That matters because the administration is pitching a pollution rollback as relief at the pump. Even by its own numbers, the extra oil adds up to about 10 days of U.S. use spread over more than two decades ⁴. The health costs of more leaking and flaring were not counted ⁵.

The Record

1. Mar 12, 2025Trump administration stops enforcing oil and gas methane rules, EDF says ⁸
2. Jun 16, 2026ProPublica reports a major Trump donor's company would benefit from easing stripper-well rules ⁶
3. Oct 7, 2026Zeldin previews the methane rollback at an oil and gas industry meeting in Santa Fe ¹⁰⁸
4. Oct 9, 2026Sen. John Hickenlooper criticizes the planned rollback ⁷
5. Oct 27, 2026White House says Trump will announce the methane proposal at a Lubbock rally for Ken Paxton ¹¹²

Sources

1. AP (via KPRC Click2Houston), “Trump plans to loosen restrictions on methane emissions from oil drilling” (2026-10-27). click2houston.com/news/politics/2026/10/27/trump-plans-to-lo
2. Reuters (via Investing.com), “Trump promotes oil production in Texas, where Democrats dream of breakthrough” (2026-10-28). za.investing.com/news/commodities-news/trump-promotes-oil-pr
3. The Daily Caller, “Trump Moves To Ease Biden's Methane Crackdown On Oil And Gas Wells” (2026-10-27). dailycaller.com/2026/10/27/trump-epa-methane-rule-marginal-w
4. Washington Free Beacon, “Trump To Unveil Plan Curbing Oil Drilling Regulations in Action That Could Save Americans $45 Billion in Energy Costs” (2026-10-27). freebeacon.com/energy/trump-to-unveil-plan-curbing-oil-drill
5. ProPublica, “EPA to Loosen Methane Rules, Boosting Pollution From Oil and Gas Wells” (2026-09-11). propublica.org/article/methane-gas-epa-proposal-stripper-wel
6. ProPublica, “Trump Plans to Protect Methane-Leaking Stripper Wells. This Billionaire Donor Will Benefit.” (2026-06-16). propublica.org/article/trump-epa-methane-jeffery-hildebrand-
7. Office of Sen. John Hickenlooper, “Hickenlooper Rebukes EPA's Methane Rules Rollback” (2026-10-09). hickenlooper.senate.gov/press_releases/hickenlooper-rebukes-
8. Environmental Defense Fund, “Statement: EPA's methane repeal would put polluters first and waste America's energy” (2026-10-07). edf.org/media/statement-epas-methane-repeal-would-put-pollut
9. Mother Jones, “The EPA Is About to Hand Oil and Gas Companies a Huge Methane-Related Gift” (2026-10-14). motherjones.com/environment/2026/10/epa-zeldin-methane-emiss
10. Clean Air Task Force, “EPA to propose significantly weakening national oil and gas air pollution regulations at the expense of public health and the climate” (2026-10-07). catf.us/2026/10/epa-propose-significantly-weakening-national
11. Washington Examiner, “Trump to unveil plan to loosen methane rules for oil and gas industry” (2026-10-27). washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy-and-environment/4781110

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