A gas flare burns at dusk in the Permian Basin in Texas, U.S. The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, took a long-awaited step toward cutting planet-warming emissions on Tuesday with the proposal of a new rule to regulate methane from oil and gas operations. The agency estimates that the regulations will cut methane emissions by 41 million tons (37 million metric tons) between 2023 and 2035 — the equivalent of shutting down 234 coal plants for one year. With two pieces of legislation that contain climate provisions currently on shaky ground on Capitol Hill, the rule lends some credibility to President Joe Biden’s calls on other nations to step up their climate commitments at COP26, the United Nations climate change conference taking place in Glasgow this month. Environmental experts and advocates called the rule an important first step, but many criticized the proposal for missing a major source of […]