The EU has so far resisted pressure to change the EU Methane Regulation, which came into effect last year. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas often released through leaks and flaring during the extraction, refining and transport of petrochemicals.
Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, EU shipments of U.S. oil and gas have shot up. Natural gas imports in particular are up fourfold.
During President Joe Biden’s term in office the EU and U.S. agreed with industry to clamp down on waste and pollution.
Last year, the Trump Administration began rolling back domestic regulation of methane. While last year the U.S. wrote to EU countries demanding they delay requirements for American companies to report their emissions data until 2035 and offer “regulatory equivalence,” meaning U.S. producers would automatically comply with the methane rules.
“These dramatic, politicized swings in domestic methane regulations are not only detrimental to climate and energy security objectives, but run counter to American industry’s own stated goals for methane management,” the letter from U.S. lawmakers read. “So long as the current delays and revisions stand, no credible case can be made that U.S. federal regulations meet the EU’s requirements for regulatory equivalency.”
Energy Secretary Chris Wright has called the EU rules “regulatory overreach.” The U.S. Department of Energy did not reply to a request to comment for this article.