Big Oil Moves on Its Own to Cut Methane Pollution

An ExxonMobil subsidiary this week said it would root out methane leaks and upgrade production technology as part of an effort to manage industrial pollution, the latest move by an energy sector that’s beginning to take matters into its own hands while the Trump administration works to roll back Obama-era climate rules.

The quiet announcement contrasts with recent events in Washington, where courts, Congress, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have been wrangling over the fate of two regulations meant to reduce methane emissions. One rule applies to new natural-gas facilities nationwide, while the other affects natural gas production on federal and Native American land. In July, a U.S. appeals court blocked the EPA from postponing implementation of the first rule. This week, a federal judge in San Francisco heard arguments on the Department of the Interior’s attempt to rollback the second rule. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives has weighed in as well, voting earlier this month to strip funding for both regulations.