Biden Administration Sets Out Ambitious Plans to Tackle Methane Emissions

The Biden Administration on Jan. 31 announced new actions, in accordance with the Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan, which was unveiled in Glasgow during the U.N. climate conference in November 2021. The plan introduces a number of innovative actions to deal with methane emissions, a key driver of climate change, and support a clean energy economy.

The actions are intended to reduce methane emissions, while safeguarding public health, encouraging U.S. innovation in modern technologies and enhancing employment of trained workers. Among the key actions:

• The Department of Interior declared funding of $1.15 billion for states to clean up abandoned oil and gas wells, a notable contributor of methane emissions.
• The Department of Energy launched the Methane Reduction Infrastructure Initiative, which will extend technical support to federal agencies, states, as well as tribes in cleaning up orphaned wells.
• The Department of Transportation announced it has begun enforcements of Section 114 of PIPES Act of 2020, which require pipeline operators to update their inspection and maintenance plans to eliminate hazardous leaks and minimize the release of natural gas.
• The Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Department is building science centered simulations and tools that are allowing industries to assess and track progression towards net zero emissions from the US dairy sector.
• The White House introduced a new interagency working group to synchronize the measurement, tracking, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas emissions and removals.
• The Interagency Work Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization announced a workshop to examine  how fossil fuel infrastructure, including orphan wells, can be repurposed and used in new industries.

The actions support the Global Methane Pledge, a U.S.-European Union initiative unveiled last November, a global partnership to collectively reduce methane emissions 30 percent from 2020 levels by this decade.