US President Donald Trump announced late Tuesday the broad cancellation of restrictions imposed by the previous administration of President Joe Biden on oil and gas producers to limit methane emissions, one of the greenhouse gases contributing to global warming.
Agence France-Presse quoted Trump as saying before a crowd in Lubbock, Texas, during a rally in support of Ken Paxton, who is running in the midterm congressional elections: "Tonight I am announcing the cancellation of Biden's methane restrictions, those costly and unnecessary restrictions, in order to save $45 billion for consumers and energy producers."
For his part, Trump considered that this step would lead to "unleashing huge quantities of natural gas in Texas," the state that is the country's largest producer of fossil fuels. These changes target rules aimed at curbing methane emissions resulting from oil and gas extraction and production operations, where emissions occur at every stage, starting from extracting gas from underground, through to its processing, transportation, and distribution.
He pointed out that Trump is seeking ways to reduce energy costs ahead of the midterm elections, amid public anger over the sharp rise in oil prices since the start of the war with Iran. Methane, the main component of natural gas, is the second largest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide, accounting for about one-third of total global warming (equivalent to 0.5 degrees Celsius) since the pre-industrial era.
The International Energy Agency added that the United States is the largest emitter of methane in the world from the oil and gas sector, followed by Russia.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
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