The U.S. announced a broad expansion and strengthening of rules to limit methane emissions from oil and natural gas Tuesday as President Biden seeks to assert U.S. leadership on global warming at the climate summit in Glasgow.
New rules would also cover existing wells, as the president seeks to show progress on curbing global warming during the Glasgow summit. The Biden administration announced new rules Tuesday to limit methane emissions from oil and gas drilling as well as actions aimed at protecting forests globally, part of a series of measures unveiled by the White House while President Joe Biden appears at the United Nations’ COP26 climate summit in Scotland.
As part of Biden’s plan to curb methane gas emissions, a new Environmental Protection Agency rule will expand and strengthen measures to regulate leak detection and repairs for the oil and gas industry. The rule follows through on an executive order Biden signed on his first day of office.
“It’s one of the most potent greenhouse gases there is,” Biden said before world leaders at the summit. “It amounts to about half the warming we’re experiencing today – just methane exposure.”
The U.S. and more than 90 countries have signed a pledge to reduce methane emissions, one of the most potent greenhouse gases, by 30% below 2020’s level by 2030.
The UAE has signed a pledge backed by more than 100 countries at Cop26 which aims to slash global emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas which is highly potent in warming the planet. The 103 countries are promising to reduce their methane output by at least 30 per cent this decade.
“Methane is one of the gases we can cut fastest,” said Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. “Doing that will immediately slow down climate change.”
The pledge, championed by the US and EU, was launched in Glasgow after months of diplomatic efforts to build support. The countries that backed it represent nearly half of global methane emissions and 70 per cent of global income.
