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US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday a wide-ranging repeal of restrictions imposed on oil and gas producers to limit methane emissions, a polluting greenhouse gas.
The announcement came during a campaign rally to support Ken Paxton, who is in a tight race in Texas for a Senate seat in the midterm elections on November 3.
These restrictions were put in place during the era of former President Joe Biden.
Trump told a crowd in Lubbock, Texas, "I am announcing tonight the repeal of the Biden methane restrictions, those costly and unnecessary restrictions, with the goal of saving consumers and energy producers $45 billion."
Amid cheers from the attendees, Trump added that this move would "unleash massive amounts of natural gas in Texas," the state that is the country's top producer of fossil fuels.
Trump is seeking ways to lower energy costs ahead of the midterm elections, amid public anger over the significant rise in oil prices since the war against Iran was launched.
Polls indicate the possibility of Republicans losing control of Congress to the Democrats in the elections scheduled for next week.
Methane, the main component of natural gas, is the second-largest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide, contributing to about a third of total global warming (equivalent to 0.5 degrees Celsius) since the pre-industrial era.
These changes target rules aimed at curbing methane emissions resulting from oil and gas extraction and production operations, as emissions occur at every stage, from extracting gas from underground to processing, transporting, and distributing it.
According to the International Energy Agency, the United States is the world's largest emitter of methane from the oil and gas sector, followed by Russia.
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