As Trump cuts climate regulations, this obscure but influential oil company stands to benefit

WBUR | By Here & Now Newsroom

Published June 17, 2026 at 11:58 AM EDT

A major climate polluter might get a break from the Environmental Protection Agency after its founder gave millions to President Trump’s campaign.

Oil tycoon Jeffery Hildebrand owns Hilcorp. The company buys up “stripper wells” that produce little oil and gas, but belch lots of planet-warming methane. That business model was threatened by Biden-era plans to regulate methane.

What Hildebrand did next is a story of environmental rollbacks and fossil fuel influence in the Trump administration.

Alex Cuadros tells that story in a new investigation for ProPublica, and spoke about it with Here & Now‘s Scott Tong.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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