MIAMI — Rep. Carlos Curbelo, a leading Republican advocate of government action to stem climate change, criticized the Trump administration on Tuesday for proposing to roll back Obama-era regulations targeting methane leaks from oil and gas drillers and fracking operations.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s methane emissions rules were part of the Obama administration’s climate agenda, which targeted methane as a short-lived greenhouse gas that is more potent than carbon dioxide.
“That’s just horrible,” Curbelo, R-Fla., told the Washington Examiner in an interview Tuesday in his Miami-based district office. “I have been very disappointed in how this administration has mishandled methane. We have made a lot of progress of taking care of flaring and leaks.”
EPA’s plan would soften a 2016 rule that required oil and gas drillers to inspect for leaks every six months, and to repair leaks within 30 days.
The proposed rule would permit drillers to do inspections every year, and give them 60 days to make repairs.
The proposal would also allow companies operating in states with weaker methane standards to follow those instead of federal rules.
Curbelo is co-chair of the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, a group of 86 Republicans and Democrats, with an equal number from each party, aiming to combat climate change.
Earlier this summer, Curbelo, a centrist facing re-election whose South Florida district is already affected by rising sea levels, became the first Republican to introduce national carbon tax legislation in nearly a decade. He was one of the first Republicans to call on former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to resign because of his ethics and spending missteps.
On Tuesday, Curbelo said EPA is acting against industry interests by relaxing the methane rules.
“A lot of what they are doing is not as relevant as it seems because private sector companies, they don’t want to do a lot of this stuff,” Curbelo told the Washington Examiner. “There’s a growing sense of responsibility. Companies have matured. They know consumers reject all of this, and ultimately markets rule.”
The oil and gas industry has struggled to contain leaks of methane from its operations, though they are promising to do more.
Methane, the main component in natural gas, is more potent than carbon dioxide because it traps more heat, although its greenhouse gas emissions are relatively short-lived in the atmosphere.
Methane is responsible for about a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions, with the oil and gas industry accounting for a quarter of methane emissions.
While leaks are infrequent, companies have an economic incentive to plug them. The industry prefers to participate in voluntary initiatives to limit methane leaks, however, instead of federal regulation, which companies consider expensive and time-consuming.
Some of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies, including BP, Exxon, Shell, and Total, are signatories to a pledge to reduce emissions called Methane Guiding Principles, although the initiative does not include binding targets.
