Trump gives oil companies a $45 billion pass on pollution

By Maya Ellison · Reporting from Detroit · October 28, 2026

Donald Trump terminated methane rules to save energy producers $45 billion, a move that prioritizes corporate profits over a livable climate for the most vulnerable.

Donald Trump is selling a lie in Lubbock, Texas. He claims he is saving consumers money. In reality, he is handing a massive subsidy to the biggest polluters on the planet. By terminating the Biden-era methane rule, Trump is not "unlocking" energy for the people. He is unlocking the doors for oil and gas companies to dump climate-warming waste into our air for free. This is the same old story: concentrated wealth buys concentrated power, and the bill lands on the doorsteps of people who can't afford it.

The $45 billion corporate gift

Trump announced the rollback during a rally for Senate candidate Ken Paxton. He told the crowd he is "officially terminating Biden's expensive and unnecessary methane regulations." According to Fox Business, Trump claims this move will save consumers and energy producers $45 billion. He also claims it will unlock 210 million barrels of oil.

But follow the money downward. The "savings" do not go to the family struggling with a heating bill or the worker in a union hall. They go to the balance sheets of energy giants. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is leading the charge. As reported by NPR, Zeldin is ending the "Super Emitter Program." This program forced companies to find and fix major methane leaks.

The Dossier shows Zeldin has suspended these requirements until January 22, 2027. He is also delaying deadlines for closed vent systems and storage vessels. This is not "fixing" the industry. It is granting amnesty to polluters. Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, called this a "free pass" to companies at the expense of consumers. Krupp argued that the EPA should be fighting waste, not making it easier.

The loophole for the biggest polluters

The most dangerous part of this rollback targets small oil and gas wells. Trump says Biden's plan "crushed the small operators." This is a convenient shield for a devastating reality. NPR reports that smaller wells produce only 6% of U.S. oil and gas. Yet, they account for up to half of all methane emissions from oil and gas fields.

When the government stops watching these wells, the air gets poison. I grew up in Flint, Michigan. I know what happens when the state decides that some zip codes are acceptable sacrifices for a budget line. Methane is the main component of natural gas and a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists estimate it accounts for about one-third of planet-warming emissions.

The Biden rule was designed to stop this. It aimed to prevent methane emissions. It was projected to yield benefits. Trump is throwing those benefits away to save companies $45 billion in the short term. He is trading our children's lungs and a stable climate for a few more quarters of record profits.

A blueprint for environmental betrayal

This is not an isolated event. It is a pattern. This move shares the exact same mechanism as the Repeal of the Clean Power Plan. In both cases, the state prioritizes the profits of fossil fuel producers over the public's right to a livable climate by dismantling environmental protections. The Clean Power Plan sought to cut carbon emissions from electricity. Trump's first term saw it dismantled. Now, he is doing the same to methane.

The Guardian reports that Trump is framing this as "ending the war on oil and natural gas." But the only war being waged here is against the future. Congress already repealed the methane fee weeks after Trump took office. That fee, approved in the 2022 climate law, could have cost companies up to $1,500 per metric ton of methane.

By removing the fee and the rules, the administration has removed every incentive for companies to be clean. They are being told that leaking methane is not a failure of engineering. It is a cost-saving strategy.

The result will be a surge in unmonitored flaring and fugitive emissions. We will see localized air pollution spikes in fence-line communities where people have the least power to fight back. This is the inevitable outcome when the EPA stops acting as a watchdog and starts acting as a concierge for the oil lobby. Justice would require that these companies pay for every ton of methane they leak. Instead, the Trump administration is making sure they never have to.

Trump gives oil companies a $45 billion pass on pollution

The $45 billion corporate gift

The loophole for the biggest polluters

A blueprint for environmental betrayal

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