While Texas Impact staff were in Dubai at COP28 we celebrated the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) announcement of new, strong methane rules. As a reminder, the new methane rule requires oil and gas producers to stop methane leaks from their equipment and end the practice of routine flaring of excess methane. The rules apply both to newly built equipment as well as existing facilities and are expected to significantly reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas industry with big climate benefits.
Now that the rule has been announced, it is up to each state to develop a State Implementation Plan to enforce the rule within their borders.
Advocates for climate change mitigation and clean air celebrate the announcement of the rule as a significant step toward meeting the climate change mitigation commitments made by the United States (like the Global Methane Pledge).
We expected that the EPA’s new methane rule would be celebrated by climate activists, but did you know it was also celebrated by some oil and gas producers? What?
You heard that right! Some oil and gas producers have released statements in support of the new, stronger EPA methane rule. These producers recognize the importance of a safe future climate and want to do the right thing by reducing methane emissions. They argue that a strong methane rule supports that work, by providing a level playing field for all oil and gas producers.
What’s more, the new rule requires producers to capture excess methane instead of letting it leak out of pipelines and other equipment or burning it flares. Captured methane can be sold for profit, since it is the primary component in natural gas. Experts predict that revenue generated from selling this captured methane makes up for the marginal additional cost of installing leak-proof equipment.
This sounds like a win for an unlikely coalition of both environmental and climate advocates and oil and gas producers. So what is the problem?
On January 30th, the three-member Texas Railroad Commission voted to formally ask Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to sue the EPA to stop implementation of the rule, a move one advocate called “confounding” given support of the rules by both environmental advocates and oil and gas producers.
The move is confounding because, as industry representatives pointed out, industries need a predictable and consistent regulatory environment in which to operate. The new methane rule provides such an environment and provides cover for producers to make climate-friendly plans for a future where oil and gas producers will be under an even more intense spotlight as climate change impacts worsen.
Studies show that awareness and alarm about climate change is at an all time high in the United States. In Texas 72% of adults know climate change is happening. In Texas majorities of adults agreed with statements like “My governor should do more to address global warming,” “Local officials should do more to address global warming,” and “Global warming should be a priority for the next president and Congress.” 71% of Texans support regulating CO2 as a pollutant.
That doesn’t sound like a state whose citizens are opposed to policy designed to reduce global warming!
If Texas voters are on board with mitigating climate change through policy and oil and gas producers are on board with the new EPA methane rule, why does the Texas Railroad Commission, a body made up of elected commissioners, want to sue the EPA to block the new methane rule?