What a shutdown means for climate regulation
EPA was already facing a mad dash to complete climate rules in the next six months. A government shutdown could make that harder.
The agency has run behind schedule to propose and finalize regulations throughout the Biden administration, and the government’s looming closure threatens to make it harder for the agency to complete work on key pieces of the president’s climate agenda before they may become vulnerable to Republican-led reversals.
The administration’s regulatory agenda in June projected that the Office of Air and Radiation would clear a slate of methane-related actions over the summer, including a final oil and gas rule and a proposed fee on excess emissions envisioned in last year’s climate law. Neither has begun White House review.
Related Knowledge Center: Air emissions
More than 30 years after the last major update of the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Supreme Court has upended the ability of Congress to give the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies broad scope to combat air pollution, including the emission of greenhouse gases. Meanwhile, further Biden administration efforts to limit emissions face opposition in the courts.
Related Knowledge Center: Methane
As the production of natural gas from shale fields has expanded, so have methane emissions. U.S. methane emissions grew 27 percent from 1990 to 2009, according to the Energy Information Administration. Methane contributes about 10 percent of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and is 25 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.