Lawmakers spark controversy over push to reverse major 2022 policy — here's what's at stake

A push to overturn a federal methane fee is underway.

What's happening?

In early February 2025, Republican Senators John Kennedy of Louisiana and John Hoeven of North Dakota introduced a resolution to get rid of a key policy aimed at cutting methane pollution from oil and gas companies. They're using the Congressional Review Act, which lets Congress scrap new regulations with a simple majority vote.

The fee, set under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, applies to facilities pumping out more than 25,000 tons of planet-warming gases per year, as Reuters reported. Companies pay $900 per metric ton of methane in 2024, with that cost jumping to $1,200 in 2025 and $1,500 in 2026 and beyond.

Kennedy and Hoeven claim the fee is an unfair tax that will drive up energy prices and hurt domestic oil and gas production. "Americans want our country to 'drill, baby, drill' to lower their energy costs," Kennedy said in the Reuters report.

Why is rolling back the methane fee concerning?

Methane is a climate supercharger, trapping heat in the atmosphere about 80 times more powerfully than planet-warming gases over a 20-year period. A huge portion of it comes from the oil and gas industry, leaking out of pipelines, drilling sites, and processing facilities — often undetected.

If this fee is repealed, it could stall progress in cutting pollution and actually make it worse, especially for communities near oil and gas operations. A Harvard University study found that breathing in methane and its associated pollutants can lead to higher rates of asthma, heart disease, and even premature death in areas with heavy drilling activity.

The U.S. has also pledged to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030 under the Global Methane Pledge, an international agreement to slow rising global temperatures. Repealing the fee could make it a lot harder to hit that goal.

What's being done to cut methane pollution?

Environmental groups like the Environmental Defense Fund, Sierra Club, and Earthjustice have been vocal about the need for stringent methane rules. The EDF, in particular, has worked toward better monitoring and stricter regulations with the development of its satellite technology, MethaneSAT. Earthjustice has fought in court to keep methane regulations in place, while Sierra Club has criticized efforts to roll them back, saying they put corporate profits over public health and the climate.

In spite of all this back-and-forth, MethaneSAT is set to launch this year to track leaks in real time, making it tougher for polluters to fly under the radar. Meanwhile, oil giants BP and Shell say they are reducing methane pollution by upgrading leak detection systems and replacing outdated equipment.

States like Colorado and New Mexico have already enforced stricter methane rules. Colorado requires oil and gas companies to check for leaks and fix them. Since that was put in place, sites with detected leaks have dropped by 75%. 

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New Mexico's regulations encourage companies to capture 98% of emitted gas by 2026 and ban routine flaring. Both states have proved that curtailing methane pollution doesn't have to slow down energy production.

The push to overturn the methane fee is a setback, but new technology and stiffer state-level regulations are keeping clean production momentum going.

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