(Washington) Polluter pays: the administration of outgoing US President Joe Biden announced Tuesday the finalization of a new regulation imposing fines on oil and gas companies that emit excessive quantities of methane, a very powerful greenhouse gas .
Posted at 12:12 p.m.
The announcement was made the day after the opening of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
However, this regulation may not withstand the arrival of President-elect Donald Trump and his government in January, who is expected to reverse many environmental standards put in place by his predecessor.
The new fine, the implementation of which was ordered by Joe Biden's major IRA climate law in 2022, only concerns oil and gas installations with high emissions, and whose methane emissions “exceed specific performance levels”, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
It should “better ensure that natural gas reaches the market rather than polluting the air,” the agency added in a press release.
Natural gas is mainly composed of methane. The idea is to avoid losses and “waste” of methane from its production, for example via leaks.
According to the EPA, if these fines remain in place until 2035, they would prevent the equivalent of 1.2 million tons of methane – the greenhouse gas emissions of 8 million cars in one year. The fine rises to $900 per ton of excess emissions in 2024, then increases to $1,200 per ton in 2025, and $1,500 in 2026.
The United States, the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has promised to reduce its methane emissions as part of its climate commitments. This gas is responsible for a third of current global warming, underlines the EPA.
The oil and natural gas sector is the largest industrial source of methane emissions in the United States.
Environmental associations welcomed the announcement. It is “in keeping with a fundamental principle shared by all Americans, namely that polluters must be held accountable for their part,” commented the Environmental Defense Fund.
There will be no fine for companies “that use common sense and easily accessible solutions to reduce methane pollution,” added this organization. Representatives of the oil sector, on the contrary, protested.
“This rule hinders our ability to meet the growing energy needs of American families and businesses,” commented the American Petroleum Institute (API). “We look forward to working with the new administration and the new Congress to put things right. »
