iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

This is just one way oil & gas corporations have been working hand-in-glove with the Trump admin to undermine methane regulation. To learn more check out @fieldnotes.co's full investigation: fieldnotes.co/investigatio...

‘And Not Much More’: Inside the Oil & Gas Industry’s Campaign Against…

Fieldnotes is a watchdog group that investigates the oil and gas industry.

000

To recap: ➡️ Oil billionaire and Trump megadonor Harold Hamm's company asked the Trump admin to do away with a regulation prohibiting the routine flaring of methane. ➡️ EPA’s Aaron Szabo claimed the regulation actually allows routine flaring in many common situations, inventing a loophole.

110

(Did she mean to admit EPA is allowing routine flaring and not “temporary” flaring? Great question.)

100

Asked for comment, EPA spokesperson Carolyn Holran said the memo “reaffirm[s] that in instances raised by stakeholders, owners, and operators, they may continue routine flaring of associated gas at new oil wells after the flaring phase out deadline under current regulations.”

110

Zeldin and Szabo have been careful to frame the memo as guidance clarifying existing rules around “temporary” flaring. But NEDC executive director Jarrod Agen was more candid, describing it on a podcast as a “flaring waiver we just announced that can help with production.”

Screenshot of National Energy Dominance Council executive director Jarrod Agen on the POLITICO Energy podcast on May 11, 2026.

100

In reality, Szabo’s memo contradicts the current regulations. He claims that inadequate pipeline capacity—a widespread and lasting circumstance in multiple basins—counts as a “temporary interruption in service,” enabling operators to continue flaring under what was intended to be a narrow exception.

100

Szabo also held a briefing for a bunch of oil & gas stakeholders.

EPA FOIA record showing Szabo briefed oil & gas stakeholders on May 1, 2026

100

In response, EPA’s Aaron Szabo released a memo on Apr. 30, 2026 saying the agency believes that the regulations currently on the books allow many operators to, in effect, continue routine flaring. www.epa.gov/system/files...

epa.gov

100

Three companies—Continental Resources (founded by Hamm), Chord Energy, and Kraken Oil and Gas Partners LLC—met with EPA and wrote letters asking the agency to modify the rule to allow operators to continue routine flaring in some circumstances.

Visitor log showing individuals from Continental, Kraken, and Chord signed into EPA HQ on Apr. 14, 2026.

1) William Houser — Continental Resources, Director of Regulatory Affairs
2) Stacy Aguirre — SAHOKA Consulting, President (worked for Continental 2012-2018)
3) Jason Nolingberg — Kraken Resources, General Counsel
4) Kevin Kelly — Chord Energy, Senior VP, Environment and Sustainability
5) Patrick Traylor — Vinson & Elkins, Partner, Environmental & Natural Resources

100

The prohibition on routine flaring caused a great deal of angst in some segments of the industry. In late April, oil billionaire and Trump megadonor Harold Hamm’s group described it as “a narrow regulatory cliff” and urged its members to contact EPA and Congress about the looming deadline.

100

Background: In places like the Permian and the Bakken, oil is the main product and the associated gas (AKA methane) that comes up along with it is a byproduct. The cost to capture and transport the gas often exceeds the value of selling it, so it’s cheaper and easier for operators to just burn it.

100

EPA is working on it, but keeps pushing the timeline to the right. In the meantime, one of the rule’s key provisions took effect this spring. Beginning May 7, 2026, routine flaring is prohibited for new wells, except for in a few narrowly-defined circumstances (e.g. emergencies and repairs).

100

The oil & gas industry has been lobbying EPA to gut the rule, and to do it quickly. In a September 2025 letter, API wrote that it “strongly recommend[ed] that the rulemaking be completed no later than mid-2026.”

Cover sheet of an API letter titled "NSPS OOOOb & EG OOOOc Priorities Issues" which also reads: "Priorities for rulemaking to be completed by mid-2026."

100

In March 2024, the Biden admin published a rule requiring oil & gas operators to eliminate or minimize the leaking, venting, and flaring of methane.

100

How does the Trump admin help oil & gas corporations get around pollution rules that are still on the books? Here’s one example @fieldnotes.co uncovered as we were investigating industry opposition to methane regulations. 🧵 Full write-up here: fieldnotes.co/investigatio...

‘And Not Much More’: Inside the Oil & Gas Industry’s Campaign Against…

Fieldnotes is a watchdog group that investigates the oil and gas industry.

130

Reposted by Julia Kane

Justin Mikulka @justinmikulka.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Great work on oil and gas industry lies about "routine" flaring. “It’s a deliberate greenwash that establishes a target that’s meaningless,” says Richard Ward, a former Shell sustainability manager.... "Those loopholes are so big that they don’t have to do anything.” Gift link. Please read.

bloomberg.com

Living Next Door to the Oil Sector’s Toxic Flames

Routine gas flaring continues globally, despite pledges by major companies to curb the practice.

03519

Reposted by Julia Kane

Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Great thread (and noting Julia’s correction to “In early 2025”) that illustrates why you cannot accommodate and coddle the O&G. You need to bring O&G to its knees. This is ultimately a fight over 💥power💥, not emissions.

084

Note: the first post in this thread should read early *2025* (right after Trump's second inauguration), not early 2024.

010

Argh, this should say early *2025,* not early 2024.

020

To learn more about how the oil & gas industry is working behind the scenes to gut methane regulations, check out @fieldnotes.co's full investigation: fieldnotes.co/investigatio...

‘And Not Much More’: Inside the Oil & Gas Industry’s Campaign Against…

Fieldnotes is a watchdog group that investigates the oil and gas industry.

111

In the end, corporations never paid a dime in methane fees. Unless something changes, they won’t have to worry about the penalty again until 2034.

111

Ultimately, Congress delayed the methane fee by 10 years, but didn’t fully repeal it, so in this case the oil & gas industry didn’t get everything it wanted. But this example does show the sway that corporations have over Republicans on Senate EPW and political appointees within EPA.

110

(EPA didn’t respond to a list of detailed questions, but spokesperson Carolyn Holran said that the agency “provides technical assistance to Senate EPW as requested, that is no secret.”)

120

Aaron Szabo, a former oil & gas lobbyist now serving as head of EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, seems to have done as he was told. Public records show he met and exchanged emails with Senate EPW Republican staff and CBO analysts in the months leading up to the reconciliation bill’s passage.

EPA record showing Szabo met with Senate EPW Republican staff on 4/11/2025

EPA record showing Szabo met with CBO analysts on 6/23/2025

120

Sidenote: This is a great example of the oil & gas industry's blatant hypocrisy. Under Biden, the trades complained that the methane fee would impose high costs on energy producers. Yet as Congress scrambled to make the math work on reconciliation, they downplayed the costs they'd once emphasized. 🙄

132

On an internal call, a lobbyist explained the strategy: 1) Trade groups leaned on Senate EPW Republicans. 2) Senate EPW appealed to EPA. 3) EPA pressured the Congressional Budget Office to decrease its estimate of how much it would cost to fully repeal the methane fee.

"They're working to generate enough data from EPA to sort of help make the case that the cost of a repeal would be less than the Congressional Budget Office thinks it would be... That's really central for us in the Senate." —DC Lobbyist on internal call

121

This was unacceptable to industry. Republicans had promised to kill the accountability mechanism, not delay it.

"The desire, I think, on the part of most Republicans—and in some cases, the promise—was to eliminate that thing... They need to get a little creative about figuring our how to get this done." —Trade Executive on internal call

121

Industry lobbied Congress to scrap the fee through reconciliation. But as GOP lawmakers grasped for ways to offset Trump’s tax cuts, it became clear that they were leaning towards delaying it, as opposed to fully repealing it (which would have further decreased revenue).

120

The methane fee was the first direct charge the U.S. government has ever imposed on GHG emissions. Oil & gas corporations *hated* it.

121

In early 2024, killing the methane fee was a top priority for oil & gas corporations. Here’s an anecdote from @fieldnotes.co's investigation that shows how industry wields power when its GOP allies are in office. 🧵 Full investigation here: fieldnotes.co/investigatio...

‘And Not Much More’: Inside the Oil & Gas Industry’s Campaign Against…

Fieldnotes is a watchdog group that investigates the oil and gas industry.

1137

Reposted by Julia Kane

Julia Kane @juliakane.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

New @fieldnotes.co investigation: the oil & gas industry is working hand-in-glove with the Trump admin to gut federal methane regulations. Corporations want to keep the veneer of regulations—and “not much more” than that. fieldnotes.co/investigatio...