April 5, 2026
Gaslighting, but make it methane
EPA Official in Charge of Methane Regs Wrote Oil Industry Argument Against Them
EPA methane boss tied to oil lobby letter — commenters yell “revolving door” and “enemy of mankind”
TLDR: ProPublica says the EPA’s methane chief previously helped write an oil lobby letter against methane rules, and now he’s easing those rules. Comments erupt between outrage over “regulatory capture” and a weary chorus saying it’s the same old revolving door—funny memes, grim stakes, and big climate consequences.
Internet sleuths are shouting after ProPublica reported that Aaron Szabo, the Trump EPA official now steering methane rules, helped draft an oil lobby’s 2022 letter arguing against those same rules—his name allegedly shows up in PDF metadata. Now he’s delaying deadlines and soliciting Big Oil’s preferred language, while Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse calls it regulatory capture. The comment section? A bonfire. One side is furious, dubbing Szabo “the inside man” and even tossing around the Latin zinger “hostis humani generis”—enemy of all humankind—for anyone watering down methane limits. Another crowd shrugs: this is the revolving door working exactly as designed.
The thread’s split between rage and black humor. A top commenter claims he’ll “write for whoever pays,” while others argue it’s a “narrow field” where people cycle between industry, lobbying, and government no matter who’s in the White House. There’s even pedantic drama over a line about methane breaking down “quickly” vs “slowly” (for the record: methane fades faster than CO₂ but packs a short-term heat punch—hence the urgency). Meme-watch: “Gaslighting with gas,” “owning the libs and the planet,” and confusion over a Senator literally named Whitehouse. The overall vibe? Outrage meets fatalist cynicism, with jokes to dull the climate dread.
Key Points
- •PDF metadata shows EPA official Aaron Szabo authored a 2022 AXPC letter opposing proposed methane controls while he was an oil and gas lobbyist.
- •Szabo is now assistant administrator at the EPA, leading the Office of Air and Radiation tasked with revising methane regulations.
- •Internal records reviewed by ProPublica indicate Szabo solicited input and regulatory language from oil industry groups on methane rules.
- •The Trump administration is pursuing broader rollbacks of fossil fuel regulations and is described as moving to repeal the greenhouse-gas endangerment finding.
- •Szabo’s office has delayed many methane rule compliance deadlines until next year; methane is identified as a climate superpollutant.