特朗普宣布废止拜登时期油气开采甲烷排放限制规定Trump Moves to Terminate Biden-Era Oilfield Methane Rules

周二晚间，唐纳德·特朗普在得克萨斯州拉伯克纪念文娱中心举行的竞选集会上宣布正式废止拜登时期的甲烷监管规则。这场集会旨在为竞选联邦参议员的得州共和党籍候选人肯·帕克斯顿站台，特朗普在现场直接批评前任政府的环保政策给本土能源生产商带来了沉重枷锁，指责民主党推行的排放限制措施通过严苛规则压垮了小型油气开采商。

Speaking Tuesday evening at a campaign rally at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center in Texas, President Donald Trump declared that his administration is formally terminating Biden-era methane restrictions on oil and gas drilling. The event, held in support of Texas Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton, served as the platform for Trump to attack previous environmental regulations, alleging that excessive regulatory measures imposed under Democratic leadership had crushed small energy operators across the country.

这项政纲调整距离全美中期选举仅剩一周时间。当前多项民意调查显示，燃油价格居高不下是选民最为关切的议题之一，同时伊朗战事也引发了外界对能源供应成本的持续审视。特朗普在演讲中将废除该规则定性为刺激本土石油开采与减轻民众开支的直接手段，宣称这一行动将为消费者和能源生产企业卸下450亿美元的合规负担，并在开采端释放多达2.1亿桶石油资源。

The policy announcement comes exactly one week before the midterm elections, a period during which public opinion polling identifies elevated fuel prices as a dominant concern for American voters, alongside scrutiny stemming from conflict involving Iran. Trump framed the elimination of the 2024 emissions standards as a direct remedy for domestic energy production, asserting that the removal of compliance burdens will save consumers and energy producers $45 billion while unlocking 210 million barrels of petroleum.

美国环境保护局局长李·泽尔丁预告了具体的监管拆解方案，核心行动包括彻底废除拜登时期设立的“超级排放源计划”。该机制原本允许第三方团体运用卫星或热成像相机识别肉眼难以察觉的天然气泄漏，并强制油气企业展开核查与维修工作。特朗普政府在去年已暂停了该项目的具体执行，泽尔丁声称原有的甲烷限制规则预计将给行业带来180亿美元的沉重开销，阻碍了全美能源产业的正常发展。

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin previewed the administration's detailed regulatory rollback, centered on completely dismantling the Biden-era Super Emitter Program. The initiative was designed to allow third-party groups using satellites and thermal imaging cameras to identify major methane releases undetectable by the naked eye and compel energy companies to investigate and repair those leaks. The Trump administration had already paused the program's implementation last year, with Zeldin asserting that complying with the 2024 methane rules would have cost $18 billion and held back the American energy sector.

除了叫停外部监测方案，环境保护局还计划对低产量的边缘井大幅放宽排污标准。尽管这类边缘井仅贡献了全美大约7%至8%的天然气开采量，但行业研究显示其甲烷泄漏量占到了排放总量的近五成，且诸多井位已处于开采寿命末期或面临微利临界点。全美边缘井协会此前致信联邦政府，指出遵守拜登时期的检测与封堵规定将让这些油气井陷入不具备经济效益的运营困境，强烈支持监管部门全面取消相关负担。

Alongside terminating third-party leak detection, the EPA intends to establish less restrictive standards for low-producing stripper wells. While these marginal wells yield only about 7% to 8% of domestic natural gas production, research indicates they are responsible for approximately half of all oilfield methane emissions, with many operating near the end of their lifespans or teetering on unprofitability. The National Stripper Well Association formally petitioned the government for regulatory relief last month, stating that compliance costs under previous rules would make operating these aging wells economically unfeasible.

环保和公共健康团体对特朗普政府的政策撤销表达了强烈反对，指出放宽限排将直接加剧气候变暖，并允许能源公司继续将本可收集并输送给数百万家庭的燃料排入大气。环境保护基金会总裁弗雷德·克鲁普批评称，该政策是以牺牲美国消费者利益为代价向排污企业提供“通行证”，敦促环境保护局履行职责遏制能源浪费，而非为排污提供便利。自然资源保护协会资深律师戴维·多尼格则将油气泄漏称为“最愚蠢”的污染形式，指出企业本可以通过捕获气体并铺设管道售出赚取更多收益，但行业长期未给予管道泄漏应有的重视。

Environmental and public health organizations voiced fierce resistance to the rollback, asserting that loosening methane standards will worsen atmospheric warming while allowing energy companies to vent valuable fuel that could otherwise heat millions of American households. Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, argued that the policy gives energy operators a free pass at the expense of domestic consumers, maintaining that the regulatory agency should combat resource waste rather than accommodate it. David Doniger, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, described methane leakage as one of the least sensible forms of industrial pollution, pointing out that energy operators would generate more revenue by capturing escaping gas and piping it to commercial markets instead of allowing it to dissipate into the atmosphere.

公共卫生倡导人士进一步指出，该决策将严重波及油气钻探点周边社区的生活环境。美国肺脏协会全国倡导高级总监莉兹·斯科特向媒体表示，伴随甲烷泄漏与燃除逸散的挥发性有机化合物对人体构成直接的健康危害，放宽甲烷标准意味着削弱了周边居民赖以防范有毒空气污染物的防护屏障。在正式实施之前，拟议的监管规则调整仍须通过包含公众评议在内的环境保护局完整法定程序；多尼格明确预计，一旦环境保护局敲定最终规则，包括自然资源保护协会在内的环保联盟将迅速向联邦法院提起诉讼。

Health advocates specifically highlighted the toxic air pollution risks facing frontline communities near active oil and gas extraction sites. Liz Scott, senior director of national advocacy for the American Lung Association, stated that volatile organic compounds released alongside fugitive methane present immediate health hazards, warning that removing leak-prevention protections simultaneously dismantles safeguards that surrounding residents depend on to limit exposure to toxic airborne pollutants. Before the proposed changes take effect, the EPA must advance through a formal rulemaking process that includes an official public comment period. Doniger confirmed that once a final rule is formally adopted, a coalition of environmental organizations, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, intends to challenge the measure in federal court.

取消油气开采甲烷限制是特朗普政府与国会共和党人成体系拆除前任气候政策的关键组成部分。在特朗普就任数周后，国会迅速废除了2022年气候法案设立的甲烷排放费，这项针对超额排放每公吨征收最高1500美元的“废弃排放收费”机制，曾是联邦政府历史上首次对温室气体直接开征的排污税。此外，此前巴拉克·奥巴马执政时期对油气甲烷排放的管控举措，也在特朗普首个任期内遭到大幅削减。

The rollback of methane restrictions on oil and gas drilling fits into a methodical campaign by the Trump administration and congressional Republicans to dismantle environmental policies enacted under former President Joe Biden. Weeks after Trump took office, Congress voted to repeal the methane fee created under the 2022 climate law, which had established a waste emissions charge of up to $1,500 per metric ton on energy producers exceeding specific thresholds as the federal government's first direct tax on greenhouse gas emissions. Similar attempts to regulate oilfield methane during the Obama administration were previously scaled back during Trump's first term.

环境保护局近期加速推翻了多项联邦基石环保规制。今年2月，环境保护局废除了全美最大碳排放来源机动车辆的尾气标准，并在上个月宣布下调燃煤与燃气发电厂的排污限制。与此同时，该机构推翻了长期作为联邦监管基石的“危害认定”法律裁决，该裁决此前确认温室气体变暖威胁公众健康与福祉。李·泽尔丁将这一系列政策转向形容为向所谓的“气候变化宗教核心刺入匕首”，标志着联邦环保战略的全面改道。

Federal environmental regulators have systematically undone core climate frameworks across multiple sectors in recent months. In February, the Environmental Protection Agency repealed vehicle emissions rules that govern the largest domestic source of carbon pollution, followed last month by an initiative to dismantle emissions limits on coal- and gas-fired power plants. The agency also reversed its foundational endangerment finding, the core legal decision determining that greenhouse gases drive climate warming in ways that harm public health and welfare. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin characterized the broader deregulation agenda as an effort to drive a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion.