The Trump EPA Official in Charge of Methane Regulations Helped Write Oil Industry Argument Against Those Rules

Aaron Szabo, assistant administrator at the EPA overseeing methane regulations, was the unnamed author of a January 2022 comment letter opposing those same restrictions when he worked as a lobbyist for Ovintiv, an oil and gas company. The letter, submitted by the American Exploration and Production Council to oppose Obama-era methane controls, used the word "burdensome" 10 times and pushed for weaker leak-detection requirements — arguments Szabo is now echoing in his current role revising the rules downward. Since joining the Trump administration on Day 1, Szabo has already met with AXPC representatives multiple times and invited oil industry groups to draft specific regulatory language for the weakened methane rules. The EPA stated Szabo "fulfilled all his ethical obligations" and that agencies routinely solicit public input, but critics argue the agency has been effectively captured by the industry. Szabo's office has already delayed compliance deadlines and is working to revise rather than repeal the rules entirely, undermining Biden-era restrictions that would have cut the industry's methane emissions by nearly 80 percent.