BREAKING: Conflicted Trump Official Stands To Benefit From Methane Reform Initiative She Is Overseeing

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Bloomberg is reporting today that a top Environmental Protection Agency official has worked on environmental rollbacks that stand to benefit a company to which she has financial ties.

“It’s hardly surprising that another Trump administration figure is so close to an official decision that could benefit them financially,” said Accountable.US President Kyle Herrig. “It seems highly unlikely that a company could spend millions to lobby on a policy Anne Idsal’s office is responsible for without talking to her.” 

Since 2019, the Canadian energy company Enbridge has spent at least $2,160,000 lobbying the federal government on “issues related to methane emissions.” In August, EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, which is run by Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator Anne Idsal.

Although Idsal has recused herself from any dealings with Valley Crossing Pipeline, a pipeline that is entirely owned by Enbridge, her office released two proposals that would stop direct regulation of methane emissions from the oil and gas industry, rules which would stand to benefit Enbridge. The line crosses over Idsal’s family ranch in Texas, which is incidentally the same ranch where Dick Cheney shot a hunting companion in 2006.

EPA’s proposed rules aim “to eliminate federal requirements that oil and gas companies install technology to detect and fix methane leaks from wells, pipelines and storage facilities” and also reopen the question of whether EPA has the authority “to regulate methane as a pollutant.” The methane rules have yet to be finalized.

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