Climate News
Trump says he is 'terminating' methane rules: a savings claim against climate warnings
US President Donald Trump said his administration was "terminating" Biden-era rules that hold oil and gas companies accountable for large leaks of methane, a powerful planet-warming gas. He made the announcement at a rally in Lubbock, Texas, on Tuesday evening, The Guardian reports.
Trump said the change would save consumers and energy producers $45bn and unlock 210m barrels of oil. He blamed what he called "crippling regulations on methane" for pushing up prices for small oil and gas operators, according to The Guardian, which reports that critics warned of the danger to the climate.
"Tonight, I'm officially terminating Biden's expensive and unnecessary methane regulations to save consumers and energy producers." — Donald Trump, via The Guardian
NPR reported the move as an end to restrictions on "climate-warming methane from oil drilling". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution first described the plan as loosening the restrictions, then reported Trump saying he was ending them.
How each outlet framed it
- The Guardian — the claim and the pushback: Trump's savings figures alongside critics' climate warnings.
- NPR — the climate frame in the headline: methane described as climate-warming.
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution — the policy step: from a plan to loosen the rules to a pledge to end them.
What we don't know yet: how the change will be carried out in practice, whether it will be challenged in court, and how the $45bn and 210m-barrel figures were calculated.