November 18, 2024
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule Tuesday, Nov. 12 that implements a charge for oil and gas companies that release too much of the planet-warming gas methane, according to a story from The Hill from Nov. 12.
The fee was passed as part of 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats’ climate, tax and health care bill. However, it may not remain in the law for long, as Republicans already say they will repeal it after their recent electoral wins.
Methane is a planet-warming pollutant that is about 28 times as powerful as carbon dioxide. Oil and gas production is one major source of methane emissions, because methane — the main component of natural gas — is sometimes released or burned during that process.
Under the 2022 law, companies that emit methane at levels equivalent to 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year must pay for their excess emissions. That fee is $900 per metric ton this year, $1,200 for emissions next year and $1,500 for emissions the following year.
Much of this is set out in the law, and the EPA’s rule details how the charge will be implemented.
The EPA estimates the program will prevent a total of 1.2 million metric tons of methane from entering the atmosphere, with climate gains equivalent to taking nearly 8 million gas-powered cars off the road for a year.
It will cost the industry $2.2 billion to comply, the agency estimates.
However, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), the top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said Tuesday that the GOP will repeal the provision next year.
“American voters firmly have said ‘enough,’ and rejected Democrats’ destructive energy policies last week. I look forward to working with my colleagues and President Trump to repeal this misguided tax early in the next Congress,” Capito said in a written statement.
The methane fee passed in the 2022 law through a process called budget reconciliation, which allows certain legislation to evade the filibuster — only requiring 50 votes in the Senate. It passed the House and Senate without a single Republican vote.