President Biden Announces Global Methane Pledge

Yesterday during the COP 26 climate summit President Biden unveiled a set of new methane rules and launched a global pledge to reduce planet-warming emissions. The President’s global methane pledge is centered around a rule from the EPA that would push oil and gas companies to more accurately detect, monitor and repair methane leaks from new and existing wells, pipelines and other equipment. The agency also estimates the rule will cut 41 million tons of methane emissions from 2023 to 2035 which is more greenhouse gas than all the carbon dioxide emitted by cars and commercial planes in 2019.

President Biden also launched the Global Methane Pledge with EU President Ursula von der Leyen to slash methane emissions by 30% by the end of the decade. Since September more than 100 nations have joined that pledge. Biden said “this isn’t just something we have to do to protect the environment and our future, it’s an enormous opportunity to all our nations to create jobs and make meeting climate goals a core part of our global economic recovery as well.”