Biden to impose new tax on Methane emissions on his way out of the White House
President Joe Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency finalized new legislation Tuesday to tax methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.
This new tax was born out of Biden’s sweeping climate legislation passed by Congress, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes a provision for a Waste Emissions Charge. Although the waste disposal tax was authorized by Congress, the Biden administration was wise about how tough it should be.
The fee will start at $900 per ton of methane emitted at a certain level of activity in 2024. In the following years, the money will increase. By 2025, it will grow to $1,200 per metric ton. By 2026, it will rise to $1,500 per ton. Meanwhile, each subsequent year after that, the fee will continue to rise, according to the EPA.
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“The final emissions cap is the latest in a series of actions under President Biden’s methane strategy to improve efficiency in the oil and gas sector, support American jobs, protect clean air, and strengthen US leadership around the world,” EPA Director Michael. Regan said in a press release.
President Joe Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency finalized new legislation Tuesday to tax methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.
Ahead of Tuesday’s new methane emissions rule, Biden and his administration are laying out other rules aimed at cracking down on methane. Shortly after taking office in 2021, he signed legislation repealing a Trump-era act that repealed tougher methane-emissions standards put in place under then-President Barack Obama.
While climate change advocates, such as the Clean Air Task Force, have praised Biden’s legislation to regulate methane emissions, Steve Milloy, a fellow at the Energy and Environmental Legal Institute, described the move as “irrelevant.” Milloy said that because 95 percent or more of the greenhouse gases trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere are water vapor and carbon dioxide, there is very little left for methane to be stored.
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Milloy also suggested that the new law on methane emissions may not be effective, given that it targets the oil and gas sector but not the agricultural sector.
“The biggest source of methane is actually microbes,” Milloy said — unlike man-made power plants. Bacteria are tiny creatures that live in cow’s stomachs, agricultural fields and wetlands, according to the Washington Post.
Milloy also suggested that the new law on methane emissions may not be effective, given that it targets the oil and gas sector but not the agricultural sector. (Michal Fludra/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Besides being effective, Milloy pointed out that this tax will benefit Big Oil companies and harm small ones.
“It’s because all these rules hamper the competition,” said Milloy. “Taxing the oil industry, you know, Big Oil is going to be all that.”
North Carolina Republican Representative Greg Murphy, who was endorsed by Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions when he filed for re-election this year, stressed that going after the oil and gas industry with this latest tax would serve to “increase costs and discourage investment.”
“I’m thankful that this madness will end in January,” said Murphy.
President-elect Donald Trump has suggested he will roll back many of the green energy programs included in Biden’s Anti-Inflation Act.
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Portraits of President-elect Donald Trump and President Joe Biden stand amid a photo of the Environmental Protection Agency’s flag flying above its DC headquarters.
This week, the new president-elect nominated former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to be his next EPA chief. Meanwhile, Gov. Alaska Republican Mike Dunleavy has been floated as a possibility for Trump’s next Secretary of Energy, among others.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and the EPA for comment but did not receive a response on the record. But the White House pointed to a sheet released on Tuesday, about how “strong” the Biden-Harris administration is.[d] America’s historic climate leadership at home and abroad. “
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