During his 2024 campaign, Donald Trump accused Joe Biden and Kamala Harris of waging a “war on energy” and promised at the Economic Club of New York to get “gasoline below $2 a gallon.” This week, with gas above $4 a gallon, his EPA proposed loosening Biden-era methane rules for oil and gas producers.
The proposal—according to Trump—is a win for oil and gas producers, especially small operators. Whether it moves the price at the pump, before next week’s midterms or for years after, is another question. The $45 billion savings estimate is spread over 2027 to 2050—and the rules cover leaks and venting at the wellhead, and gasoline prices track crude oil, which is trading around $103.99 as of October 30 as the Iran war continues.
Regular gasoline averaged $3.472 a gallon during Trump’s second presidency, narrowly exceeding the $3.471 average during Biden’s four years in office, according to Reuters. The national average climbed to $4.20 per gallon as of October 30.
On Tuesday in Lubbock, Texas, President Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a proposal to revise Biden-era oil and natural gas regulations—with an estimated $45 billion in savings for consumers and businesses from 2027 to 2050. The proposal also projects an additional 210 million barrels of domestic oil production and 1.41 trillion cubic feet of natural gas over the same period.
“The Biden administration’s short-sighted plan to kill domestic energy production hurt hard-working families, crushed our businesses, and threatened the communities that power our nation,” Doug Burgum, the U.S. secretary of the interior, said in the EPA press release. “Since day one, President Trump has been putting real money back into the hands of American people by putting American energy back in the hands of the American workers, businesses, and communities.”
The proposal is part of Trump’s effort to expand fossil fuel production. “We will frack, frack, frack and drill, baby, drill,” Trump said during a campaign event in October 2024.
But Trump’s EPA proposals throughout his tenure haven’t been accepted by every expert. Jody Freeman, a professor of law and director of the environmental and energy program at Harvard Law School, wrote concerns regarding the president’s earlier 2025 EPA proposal to rescind the 2009 “endangerment finding”—the scientific basis that greenhouse gases contribute to global warming and harm human health.
“The irony is that no industry asked for this extreme step,” Freeman wrote in a guest piece for The Los Angeles Times in August 2025. “Car makers need stable federal rules to compete globally. Power companies have invested billions in renewable energy, which regulatory uncertainty puts at risk. Even most oil and gas companies support a national approach to limiting methane.”
What the Biden rules required
Trump’s EPA proposal targets regulations finalized by the Biden administration in 2024 under the Clean Air Act. The rules established methane-emissions standards for new and existing oil and natural gas operations, including requirements for detecting and repairing leaks and limiting the release of natural gas from oil wells.
The Biden administration’s rules were intended to reduce emissions from methane, a greenhouse gas that escapes during the production of fossil fuels. But the Trump administration argues the requirements imposed excessive compliance costs, especially on smaller operators and owners of marginal wells.
“The proposal also emphasizes reforms for marginal wells, which account for roughly four out of every five producing wells in the nation,” an EPA press release read. “Many are family-owned wells that play a critical role in family economics by powering homes and fueling farm equipment; ultimately offsetting other daily expenses. Families also often use the money from these wells for their retirement savings. Reducing regulatory burdens will provide financial security for thousands of American families.”
The EPA is also considering separate regulatory standards for marginal and higher-producing wells, as well as rescinding the Biden-era Super Emitter Program—which allowed certified third-party organizations to identify and report major methane leaks to regulators. The EPA’s own regulatory impact analysis estimates about 60 million additional short tons of methane from 2027 through 2050.
The proposal is not yet final. The EPA said it would hold at least a 45-day public comment period and a public hearing after the rule is published in the Federal Register, so no final rule can land before next week’s midterms.