Lawmakers have urged European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to resist Trump administration pressure to water down pollution rules for the oil and gas sector.
In a letter, shared with POLITICO, 24 members of the House and Senate said ceding to demands from the Department of Energy to exempt American oil and gas from a regulation aimed at clamping down on methane pollution “would be a misguided approach.”
The signatories were all Democrats and were led by Rep. Scott Peters and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee.
The EU has so far resisted pressure to change new methane rules, which came into effect last year. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas often released through leaks and flaring during the extraction, refining and transport of petrochemicals.
