by Audrey Streb
Heartlander News
Speaking at a rally Tuesday in Lubbock, Texas, President Donald Trump announced that the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing major changes to Biden-era oil and natural gas regulations that critics say were unnecessary and especially burdensome for independent producers. The move is projected to boost oil and gas production, though the timeline for that increase remains unclear.
The EPA said its proposed revisions to oil and gas regulations under the Clean Air Act, commonly known as the OOOOb/c rules, would save consumers and businesses $45 billion. The agency criticized the Biden EPA’s “one-size-fits-all, burdensome regulations,” which it said were projected to cost $18 billion. It also said the proposed changes would unlock an estimated 210 million barrels of oil and 1.41 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
The Biden administration heralded its 2024 standards as part of its “historic climate agenda,” saying the regulations would reduce methane emissions from the oil and natural gas industry. Industry groups, including the National Stripper Well Association and the Independent Petroleum Association of America, argue the Biden-era rules imposed exorbitant compliance costs that smaller wells could not absorb, squeezing operations run by family businesses…
Steve Milloy, a senior fellow at the Energy and Environment Legal Institute and a former Trump EPA transition team member, described the proposal as “another advance for the America First energy agenda.”
“Regardless of your viewpoint on the Iran war, it spotlighted the need for America to expand its own oil and gas supply and related infrastructure,” Milloy said in a statement.
