The measure may be short-lived as the party majority shifts.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its final rule this week imposing a fee for oil and gas companies that generate too much methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The rule was introduced by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, and will require companies emitting methane levels that equal or exceed 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide to pay $900 per metric ton of emissions. If the emission rate continues into a second year, the fee increases to $1,200 per metric ton, and a third year would be charged $1,500 per ton.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the fee seeks “to reduce methane emissions so that natural gas ultimately makes it to consumers as usable fuel instead of as a harmful greenhouse gas.“
Some members of Congress have been critical of parts of the Inflation Reduction Act since its passage, and Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, the ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said she expects this law to be repealed in the coming year.
“American voters firmly have said ‘enough,’ and rejected… destructive energy policies, “ Senator Moore Capito stated. “I look forward to working with my colleagues and President Trump to repeal this misguided tax early in the next Congress.”
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Senator Moore Capito and her colleagues as they assess changes to the Inflation Reduction Act.
- For wisdom for President-elect Trump as he chooses nominees for his administration.
Sources: The Hill, Bloomberg
