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The Trump administration plans to abolish Obama-era regulations designed to avoid hazardous methane leaks from oil and gas drilling operations. The head of the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), Andrew Wheeler said the proposed rule change was to follow Donald Trump’s directions to terminate unnecessary and duplicative regulatory burdens from the oil and gas industry. It is the latest step by the White House to further deregulate emissions controls on oil, gas and coal production. It comes a day after reports that Trump plans to tear down Clinton-era legislation to open up more than half of the world’s largest intact temperate rainforest in Alaska.

It is noteworthy that Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and its release into the atmosphere has a considerably stronger effect on global heating than the release of carbon dioxide. Moreover, it happens in smaller volumes and doesn’t remain in the atmosphere as long. A study by Cornell University has indicated the boom in cracking for shale gas and renewed oil extraction in the U.S has already led to a global spike in methane emissions alleged for accelerating an increase in average temperatures around the world. Robert Howarth (the author of the study) said, “It’s globally significant. It’s contributed to some of the increase in global warming we’ve seen and shale gas is a major player”.

The former EPA officials and environmental advocates already said they expected the new methane plan to go further than previous proposals, with a goal of exempting companies from requirements to detect and stop methane leaks at existing oil and gas sites. The former EPA air official under President Barack Obama, Joseph Goffman said, “Essentially, this is the umpteenth iteration of the EPA’s exercise to define away its Clean Air Act authority to address air pollution and greenhouse gases”. EPA has indicated the oil and gas industry is the primary source of methane emissions in the United States and it is estimated at nearly one-third in 2016.