A high-stakes U.N. climate summit put a global spotlight on methane — the world's second-biggest contributor to climate change behind carbon dioxide — and the U.S. presidential administration responded with a sweeping plan to curb emissions of the potent greenhouse gas by the U.S. oil and gas industry.
"One of the most important things we can do in this decisive decade to keep 1.5 degrees C in reach is to reduce our methane emissions as quickly as possible," U.S. President Joe Biden said Nov. 2 at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland. As part of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, nations agreed to try to limit global temperatures from rising past 1.5 degrees C from preindustrial levels.
Methane remains in the atmosphere for a much shorter period than carbon dioxide, but the near-term warming effect is much greater, with a global warming potential that is more than 80 times greater over a 20-year period. Methane emissions have accounted for roughly 30% of global warming from preindustrial levels, according to the U.N.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the proposal on Nov. 2, the same day that Biden joined as a signatory to a Global Methane Pledge targeting a 30% reduction in global methane reductions by 2030.
The EPA proposal included a comprehensive monitoring program for new and existing well sites and compressor stations; a compliance option allowing operators flexibility to use advanced technology to find major leaks faster; a zero-emissions standard for new and existing pneumatic controllers; and standards to eliminate venting of associated gas and require its capture and sale.
The administration is also seeking to curb methane emissions through a proposal in the U.S. budget reconciliation package that would potentially subject oil and gas producers to millions of dollars in annual fines for exceeding emission thresholds.
A fee on methane emissions would be a milestone in U.S. climate policy after past efforts to put a federal price on carbon struggled to overcome steep political obstacles.
The latest version of the proposed methane fee did little to assuage industry groups that oppose the concept, but analysts said it could be a critical tool for curbing planet-warming emissions. Proponents have described the methane emissions fee as an important backstop to the EPA proposal.
Biden's actions and statements at the climate summit sought to assure the world that the U.S. is tackling greenhouse gas emissions head-on, even as his policies have been scaled back by Congress and could be blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court.
In lieu of the political wins Biden had hoped to bring to the global climate conference, the White House released a long-term climate strategy reaffirming the emission reduction goals the president unveiled earlier this year. The report describes how the U.S. plans to cut carbon emissions in half by 2030, rid the energy sector of fossil fuels by 2035 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
"We're going to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by well over a gigaton by 2030," Biden told thousands in attendance at COP26. "We're planning for both a short-term sprint to 2030 that will keep 1.5 degrees Celsius in reach and for a marathon that will take us to the finish line and transition the largest economy in the world into a thriving, innovative, equitable and just clean-energy engine."
The strategy document notes that "rapid decarbonization" is underway in the electricity sector as the U.S. attempts to adhere to the Paris Agreement target. With sheer market changes such as continued cost declines for renewable energy and battery storage technology, emissions could decrease 70% to 90% by 2030 and reach 100% five years later, the U.S. plan suggests.