The Biden administration on Saturday announced new regulations that are expected to deliver significant cuts to the greenhouse gas methane in the oil and gas sector.
The rule, finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), tees up emissions reductions for both new oil and wells and, for the first time, existing oil and gas wells.
An EPA press release said the rule is expected to prevent 58 million tons of methane from entering the atmosphere between 2024 and 2038. These emissions savings are the climate equivalent of taking 28 million gas-powered cars off the road for a year.
Methane is a planet-warming gas that’s about 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide and is responsible for about 25 percent of global warming.