Trump kills methane rules to buy Texas votes for Ken Paxton

By Sophie Naimi · Reporting from Paris · October 28, 2026

Donald Trump terminated Biden-era methane rules to save oil firms $45 billion, a move that prioritizes short-term corporate profit over the physics of a warming planet.

Donald Trump is trading the future of the atmosphere for a few seats in the U.S. Senate. By terminating Biden-era methane regulations, he is not "saving" the American consumer. He is subsidizing the most reckless actors in the fossil fuel industry. This is a calculated betrayal of climate physics to secure a political win for Ken Paxton in Texas. Trump is wrong because he treats the planet as a ledger of short-term gains. He ignores the reality that methane is a super-pollutant that accelerates the burning of the global south.

The physics of a super-pollutant

The Trump administration is dismantling the only tools we have to stop invisible leaks. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is ending the "Super Emitter Program." This program allowed observers to report leaks. Now, the EPA will loosen rules for "marginal wells." These are small wells.

The physics here are brutal. Methane traps 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide in the air. According to Free Malaysia Today, methane is responsible for 0.5°C of total planetary heating since the pre-industrial era. The "marginal wells" Trump is protecting are the worst offenders. Yonhap reports these small wells are responsible for 60% of methane emissions during the production process.

By exempting these wells, the EPA is essentially legalizing atmospheric arson. Trump is not "unlocking" energy. He is unlocking a flood of heat-trapping gas.

The fiction of trickle-down energy

Trump claims this rollback will save consumers and energy producers $45 billion. He promises it will unlock 210 million barrels of oil and 1.41 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. He frames this as a rescue mission for the small operator. As Fox Business reports, he argues these regulations were "expensive and unnecessary."

The strongest case for this move comes from people like Harold Ham of the American Energy Producers Alliance. He argues that methane regulation is a "production ban" that drives small companies into bankruptcy. He claims these costs are passed directly to the consumer, raising the price of heating and fuel.

This is a lie. Andrew Logan of Ceres told Bloomberg that companies are likely to pocket these savings. The money will not reach the pump. Look at the numbers. The current national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is $4.27. This is up from $3.05 a year ago. Trump’s own war with Iran is driving prices up. Deregulating a few thousand wells will not lower the cost of a commute.

Follow the money. Harold Ham donated for Trump's reelection. This is not about the American worker. It is about rewarding donors.

A blueprint for planetary betrayal

This is not an isolated event. It is a historical pattern. The long record predicts that Trump will always prioritize industrial profit over binding emissions commitments. For this to be different, we would need to see the EPA prioritize the 87% emissions reduction target set for 2030. Instead, we see Lee Zeldin treating the Clean Air Act as a hurdle to be cleared.

This move shares the exact mechanism of the Withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement. In both cases, the administration prioritized short-term domestic industrial profit and "economic advantage" over global climate physics. Trump believes that "to the victor belong the spoils," as he told a crowd in Corpus Christi while gesturing toward a tanker of Venezuelan oil. He views the atmosphere as a spoil of war.

The political goal is clear. Trump is campaigning for Ken Paxton against James Talarico. He is using the Permian Basin as a political piggy bank. He is telling Texas voters that environmental protection is a "war on oil." In reality, the war is being waged on the people who will suffer the most from the resulting warming.

The historical pattern is a straight line. Trump deregulates, emissions spike, and the poorest places on earth pay the price. The only way this pattern breaks is if the political cost of climate collapse outweighs the value of a few oil-patch votes.

The verdict is clear. Lee Zeldin’s EPA is creating a toothless standard that allows corporations to pretend they are regulated while they knowingly leak gas. This will accelerate fugitive leaks in the Permian Basin. It will drive a measurable surge in atmospheric methane. The $45 billion in "savings" will be absorbed as pure profit or share buybacks. While Trump and Ken Paxton celebrate their "energy dominance," the global south will burn for the comfort of a few Texas billionaires. This is not energy policy; it is a crime against the future.

Trump kills methane rules to buy Texas votes for Ken Paxton

The physics of a super-pollutant

The fiction of trickle-down energy

A blueprint for planetary betrayal

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