Critics warn of climate danger as president in Texas claims change will save companies and consumers billions

Donald Trump announced his administration is “terminating” Biden-era regulations holding oil and gas companies accountable for large leaks of planet-warming methane during a rally in Lubbock, Texas, on Tuesday evening.

Trump said during a campaign rally in Texas that the change would save consumers and energy producers $45bn and unlock 210 million barrels of oil – equivalent to about 10 days of US petroleum consumption. “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.

The move aims to encourage more domestic drilling as Trump faces criticism over high fuel prices stemming from the US war in Iran.

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[–] 7 points 1 day ago
  • companies don't have to report methane pollution if they release a whole bunch of it at once in a "super emitter event"
  • the do not have to report it if they release it on purpose to regulate the flow of liquid through pipelines and machinery
  • If they did have to report these, they would have to report 6x-10x as much methane pollution as they do now
  • oil and gas wells responsible for 6% of American production, release 50% of all methane pollution
  • Texas does not have independent greenhouse gas reporting requirements
  • Texas emits more greenhouse gases than any other state
  • With just the datacenters that are already planned, Texas is set to double it's greenhouse gas emission

https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/climate-change-transparency-project/2026-08-18/inside-struggle-dismantle-americas

https://www.texastribune.org/2026/07/01/texas-data-center-power-plans-emissions/

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