The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday published the first U.S. regulations to reduce methane emissions from new or modified oil and gas facilities, one of the key remaining pieces of the Obama administration's climate change strategy.
The final standards would reduce the equivalent of 11 million tons of carbon dioxide and cost companies $530 million in 2025. The agency said, though, that the rule will yield $690 million in "climate benefits."
The steps are part of the Obama administration's strategy to cut methane emissions 40 to 45 percent below 2012 levels by 2025, the EPA said, and forms a key part of the U.S. plan to meet its Paris climate agreement pledge.