Senators Reject Effort To Roll Back Greenhouse Gas Emissions Rule 
 
 Enlarge this image toggle caption Keith Srakocic/AP Keith Srakocic/AP 
 
 In a rare victory for environmentalists under President Trump, the Senate rejected efforts to roll back an Obama-era rule limiting methane emissions from energy production sites on federal land. 
 
 The vote over the greenhouse gas was close — 49-51 — with Republican Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Susan Collins coming down against the resolution, which would have repealed the Bureau of Land Management's Methane Waste and Prevention Rule. 
 
 In a statement, McCain said he voted against the repeal because the effort made use of a legislative tool called the Congressional Review Act, which would have blocked similar regulations in the future. 
 
 "While I am concerned that the BLM rule may be onerous, passage of the resolution would have prevented the federal government, under any administration, from issuing a rule that is 'similar,' according to the plain reading of the Congressional Review Act," the Arizona senator said. 
 
 Graham previously told The Hill that he thought deploying the Congressional Review Act would be "too blunt an instrument in this case." 
 
 The methane measure passed the House, 221-191, in February. 
 
 Rhea Suh, the president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, called the Senate resolution an effort to "put polluters first and the rest of us at risk." The fact that it failed, she said in a statement, shows "a majority of the Republican-controlled Senate at last has come to its collective senses." 
 
 The Western Energy Alliance, a major oil and gas industry group, has described the methane regulation as an overreach of executive authority in a matter that is better left to the states and the Environmental Protection Agency. 
 
 The alliance vowed to continue pursuing legal action and working with the Department of the Interior to review and rescind the rule, a process initiated by the Trump administration but could take years. The White House is also taking aim at a slew of other Obama-era environmental regulations. 
 
 The greenhouse gas rule is intended to curb a practice called flaring, during which energy producers burn off natural gas that they can't process or sell. That process releases methane into the atmosphere. 
 
 NPR's Nathan Rott explained the rationale behind the regulation: 
 
 "The Obama administration sought to address the emissions with the BLM's methane rule. It requires oil and gas companies on federal or tribal lands to look for leaks and fix them. It limits allowable venting and flaring and directs producers to capture the natural gas. And it requires that oil and gas producers gradually update well sites with modern technology. "The administration's reasons were twofold: For one, the rule would reduce waste of a natural resource being pulled from public lands. "The second: Methane, the chief component of natural gas, is a potent greenhouse gas. It can warm the atmosphere at nearly 30 times the rate of carbon dioxide." 
 
 As Rott reported, oil and gas producers argue that the regulation is redundant and unnecessary because there are state laws that address the practice and because they say it's in their business interest not to burn off their own gas. 
 
 But critics say the notion of industry adequately limiting emissions without regulations doesn't bear out. They say it doesn't always make immediate economic sense for energy producers to swap out old, leaky equipment with newer, more environmentally friendly models, even if the lost gas costs them money. 
 
 That cost is significant, Rott notes: ||||| Three Republicans joined Senate Democrats on Wednesday to reject an effort to overturn an Obama administration rule limiting methane emissions from oil and natural gas drilling. 
 
 Only 49 senators voted to move forward with debate on legislation to undo the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rule, short of the 51 votes needed. 
 
 Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin GrahamDefense Department signs executive order to withdraw troops from Syria Rand Paul's Festivus 'grievances' include comparing Lindsey Graham to Senator Palpatine Dems push for increased scrutiny of Trump’s court picks MORE (S.C.), Susan Collins Susan Margaret CollinsShutdown looms as Trump, GOP dig in on wall The Memo: Trump reaches to shore up base on border wall On The Money: Latest on shutdown risk | Trump digs in on wall funding | House GOP looks to move .7B for border wall | GOP senators stunned | Stocks plunge amid Washington chaos MORE (Maine) and John McCain John Sidney McCainFive possible successors to Mattis Meghan McCain rips Bill O'Reilly for suggesting Ginsburg's death is imminent Progressive strategist says Arizona is becoming more favorable for Dems MORE (Ariz.) joined all 48 members of the Democratic caucus in rejecting the resolution under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 Graham and Collins had previously publicized their plans to vote against the legislation. But McCain’s vote came as a surprise. 
 
 McCain said that he voted against the resolution because he fears that it would have prevented the BLM from writing an improved regulation in the future. 
 
 “While I am concerned that the BLM rule may be onerous, passage of the resolution would have prevented the federal government, under any administration, from issuing a rule that is ‘similar,’ according to the plain reading of the Congressional Review Act,” he said in a statement. 
 
 “I believe that the public interest is best served if the Interior Department issues a new rule to revise and improve the BLM methane rule.” 
 
 The vote marks the first time Republicans have rejected a resolution to repeal an Obama administration regulation since President Trump took office, and came the morning after the president sparked a firestorm with his firing of FBI Director James Comey. 
 
 The failure of the resolution is a loss for congressional Republicans, who had targeted the methane rule as one of the main Obama regulations they wanted to reverse. Opponents of the rule argue that it unnecessarily adds costs to oil and natural gas drilling on federal land. 
 
 But the defeat of the resolution is a victory for environmentalists, who in recent weeks put up a comprehensive fight to sway vulnerable and moderate senators against repeal. 
 
 Vice President Pence came to the Capitol in case his vote was needed to break a tie. Republicans went into a side room off of the Senate floor after the final vote was submitted and held the vote open, but no senator changed his or her vote. 
 
 “This was a very duplicative, unnecessary act of government interference in an area where BLM had no authority,” Sen. John Barrasso John Anthony BarrassoRussia, Iran and Turkey will step into vacuum US leaves in Syria Overnight Health Care — Presented by the National Taxpayers Union — ObamaCare enrollment drops for second year under Trump | Senate GOP blocks bid to intervene in ObamaCare case | Cigna-Express Scripts merger to close Thursday Senate GOP blocks bid to intervene in ObamaCare case MORE (R-Wyo.) said, telling reporters he would ask Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to withdraw the rule administratively instead. 
 
 “It was over-regulation by the Obama administration, and we tried to remove it with the Congressional Review Act. That fell one vote short today, and as a result we’ll call on the secretary to withdraw it.” 
 
 In a letter to Sen. Rob Portman Robert (Rob) Jones PortmanSens. Sanders and Feinstein oppose Israel anti-boycott provision John Kasich pitches soon to be shuttered Ohio GM plant to Elon Musk: ‘Call me’ Israel boycott fight roils Democrats in year-end spending debate MORE (R-Ohio) last week, Zinke said that no matter what happens with the repeal vote, BLM would “take concrete action to reduce methane waste,” including expediting permitting for pipelines to carry more natural gas, reviewing existing policies and encouraging the use of methane at drilling sites. 
 
 Drillers opposed the Obama administration rule, however, argue they have already done a good job of cutting methane emissions through a combination of self policing and state regulations. The American Petroleum Institute called the rule “technically flawed” and an “unnecessary and costly misstep.” 
 
 “While it is disappointing that the Senate did not act to correct the rule more quickly, we look forward to working with the administration on policies that continue our commitment to safely produce the energy that Americans rely on, help consumers, create jobs, strengthen our national security, and protect our environment,” Erik Milito, the group’s upstream and industry operations group director, said in a statement. 
 
 Democrats cheered the resolution's failure, and seemed surprised that it happened. 
 
 “This is a good, solid rule, and it's a commonsense rule, and I think it prevents waste just like it was laid out to do,” Sen. Tom Udall Thomas (Tom) Stewart UdallSenate in last-minute talks to find deal to avert shutdown House-passed stopgap measure in Senate limbo Consumer groups accuse Google of marketing inappropriate apps toward children MORE (D-N.M.) said on the floor. “We're preventing waste, we're doing job creation, and we're acting on the part of public health.” 
 
 Greens and conservationists in the West, where there is widespread public land gas development, had strongly opposed the resolution. 
 
 “The oil and gas industry tried to buy a win today, but came up short,” Center for Western Priorities Executive Director Jennifer Rokala said. 
 
 “This vote ensures that less taxpayer-owned natural gas will be wasted, saving all Americans money and giving Westerners cleaner air to breathe.” 
 
 The vote was the Senate GOP’s last chance to overturn an Obama rule through the CRA, which provides a streamlined method for blocking regulations, but only under a strict time limit. 
 
 Trump signed 13 CRA resolutions into law this year, by far the most extensive use of the law in its history. Environmental rules — including those related to coal pollution, land management, hunting in Alaska and financial disclosures for drillers and miners — were among the biggest targets for Republicans. 
 
 The methane resolution was the only one passed by the House not to reach Trump’s desk. 
 
 The methane rule sets standards for what oil and natural gas drillers on federal land must do to stop the waste of methane, the key component of natural gas, through venting or burning it at the well site. 
 
 It is primarily designed to prevent the waste of a valuable resource that belongs to taxpayers. But since methane is a greenhouse gas as much as 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide, the rule also has benefits for reducing climate change. 
 
 The rule was part of a wide-ranging strategy by Obama to tackle methane emissions in the final years of his presidency. 
 
 While the congressional effort has failed, Trump’s Interior Department is likely to try to repeal the rule itself through the rulemaking process. 
 
 Kate MacGregor, Interior’s acting secretary for land and minerals, said in a statement that the agency has already identified the rule as one the agency will “suspend, revise or rescind given its significant regulatory burden that encumbers American energy production, economic growth and job creation,” citing Trump’s March 28 executive order asking agencies to repeal or change rules that hurt domestic energy production and use. 
 
 Interior did not say which of those options it will choose for the methane rule. Repealing or rewriting it could take a year or more, and would be subject to litigation by environmentalists and other opponents. 
 
 "The rule is expected to have real and harmful impacts on onshore energy development and could impact state and local jobs and revenue,” said MacGregor. “Small independent oil and gas producers in states like North Dakota, Colorado and New Mexico, which account for a substantial portion of our nation's energy wealth, could be hit the hardest. 
 
 — This report was updated at 1:53 p.m. ||||| A video of the roll call vote results. (U.S. Senate) 
 
 This story has been updated. 
 
 The Senate on Wednesday narrowly blocked a resolution to repeal an Obama-era rule restricting methane emissions from drilling operations on public lands — with three Republicans joining every Democrat to preserve the rule. 
 
 The 51-to-49 vote on a procedural motion marked the first time since Trump’s election that Republicans have failed in their attempt to use the Congressional Review Act to overturn Obama-era rules. Thirteen other resolutions, based on the 1996 law that allows Congress to overturn rules within 60 legislative workdays of their adoption, have succeeded. 
 
 Thursday is the deadline for using the Congressional Review Act this way. 
 
 The methane emissions rule, issued by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management in November, addresses a potent greenhouse gas that is accelerating climate change. 
 
 [Trump officials turn to courts to block Obama-era legacy] 
 
 The rule would force oil and gas companies to capture methane that had been previously burned off or “flared” at drilling sites. According to federal estimates, the rule would prevent roughly 180,000 tons a year of methane from escaping into the atmosphere and would boost federal revenue between $3 million and $13 million a year because firms only pay royalties on the oil and gas they capture and contain. 
 
 Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) unexpectedly voted no against a motion to proceed with consideration of the resolution, along with GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.). Two Democrats who had considered backing the rule’s elimination — Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin III of West Virginia — voted against the motion, and sent a letter asking Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to make it less burdensome. 
 
 In a floor speech after the vote, Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), said “the very first victory” lawmakers have had in beating back a Congressional Review Act bill this year came from a combination of Democratic unity and a few Republicans’ willingness to buck their leadership. “Thank you so much for coming forward and seeing the common-sense nature of this issue,” Udall said, referring to Collins, Graham and McCain. 
 
 [Earth could break through a major climate threshold in the next 15 years, scientists warn] 
 
 Jamie Williams, president of the Wilderness Society, hailed the vote as an example of how grass-roots organizing can work. “In recent months, thousands of Americans asked the Senate to stand up for clean air and against the oil lobby, and their efforts were successful today,” he said. 
 
 Republicans and industry officials said they would now switch their focus to getting the Interior Department to rewrite the rule, and Trump officials confirmed Thursday they would seek to either change or pull it back altogether. 
 
 Barry Russell, president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, said his group “looks forward to working with the Interior Department on a targeted, meaningful solution that will achieve the common goal of ensuring the American taxpayers receive a fair and equitable return in the form of royalties while developing a workable regulation, instead of this one-size-fits-all approach.” 
 
 [EPA dismisses half of key board’s scientific advisers; Interior suspends more than 200 advisory panels] 
 
 And Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said in a statement that Interior should withdraw the regulation outright. “If left in place, this regulation will only discourage energy production, job creation, and economic opportunity across the West.” 
 
 Kate MacGregor, Interior’s acting assistant secretary for land and minerals, said in a statement that as part of President Trump’s energy plan and related executive order, Interior “has reviewed and flagged the Waste Prevention rule as one we will suspend, revise or rescind given its significant regulatory burden that encumbers American energy production, economic growth and job creation.” 
 
 “The vote today in the Senate doesn’t impact the administration’s commitment to spurring investment in responsible energy development and ensuring smart regulatory protections,” she added. 
 
 Before this year, Congress had only nullified one rule, a regulation on ergonomics former president Bill Clinton enacted during his final year in office. In less than four months, Republicans have wiped away rules covering everything from limits on the dumping of waste from surface-mining operations to enlarging states’ power to offer retirement accounts to private-sector workers. 
 
 But the move to strike a rule requiring companies to limit the practice of flaring, or leaking, methane from oil and gas operations on federal and tribal land had given some Republicans — who control 52 seats in the Senate — pause. 
 
 #senate vote on HJ Res 36, the CRA on the methane rule was NOT agreed to 49-51. Collins, Graham and McCain joined all Dems/IND against. — Senate Press Gallery (@SenatePress) May 10, 2017 
 
 Many Republicans and fossil-fuel producers criticized the regulation after it was finalized last year, and a resolution to repeal it passed quickly in the House of Representatives at the end of January. But despite Trump’s support, the repeal measure had been sitting in the Senate for months. It had to pass by Thursday to be eligible to be signed into law. 
 
 Democrats, as well as environmental and public-health groups, ran a months-long campaign to persuade Heitkamp and Manchin not to disclose their position publicly while arguing to centrist Republicans that abolishing the rule would cost taxpayers money as well as harm the environment. 
 
 [Trump undertakes the most ambitious regulatory rollback since Reagan] 
 
 Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) also remained on the fence until Monday, when he announced in a statement that he would vote to overturn the BLM regulation. Two other wavering Republicans, Cory Gardner (Colo.) and Dean Heller (Nev.), ultimately joined Portman in voting to proceed with the bill’s consideration. 
 
 “Unfortunately, the previous administration’s methane rule was not a balanced approach,” Portman said. “As written, it would have hurt our economy and cost jobs in Ohio by forcing small independent operators to close existing wells and slowing responsible energy production on federal lands. There’s a better way.” 
 
 He added that he believes the Interior Department should still work to reduce venting and flaring on public lands. Last week, Portman wrote to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, calling for a commitment that the department would continue to work to reduce methane waste if the Obama rule were reversed. On May 4, Zinke responded, affirming that “the Department is committed to reducing methane waste, and under my leadership, we will take important steps to accomplish this goal.” 
 
 Environmentalists urged Portman to reconsider. In a statement on Tuesday, Environmental Defense Action Fund Executive Director Fred Krupp said Zinke’s assurances were “unfounded” and argued that the strategies for reducing methane waste outlined in his letter would have little impact. 
 
 A coalition of industry groups have argued that they are taking steps to reduce fugitive methane emissions because they recognize capturing them can yield additional profits. The American Petroleum Institute noted that the Environmental Protection Agency data, released in March, shows about an 8 percent drop in methane emissions from petroleum production since 2014, largely because of improved gas venting and flaring techniques. 
 
 The legislative window for Congressional Review Act resolutions to be considered ends Thursday, though a handful of conservative analysts believe that agencies’ failure to submit a two-page report on previous rules to Congress could open the door to reconsideration of dozens of much older rules. 
 
 Curtis W. Copeland, a regulatory expert who specialized in American government at the Congressional Research Service, said in an email that regardless of how many rules this Congress ultimately overturns, “The CRA can no longer be described as ‘obscure’ or ‘little known.’ It now has to be viewed as a substantive tool of congressional oversight regarding an outgoing President’s rules, and it is likely be used again in the future.” 
 
 More from Energy & Environment: 
 
 Scientists are conspicuously missing from Trump’s government 
 
 ‘We all knew this was coming’: Alaska’s thawing soils are now pouring carbon dioxide into the air 
 
 New EPA documents reveal even deeper proposed cuts to staff and programs 
 
 For more, you can sign up for our weekly newsletter here and follow us on Twitter here.
– Something unprecedented under President Trump's watch happened Wednesday: The Senate failed to repeal an Obama-era rule. The Washington Post reports it was a surprise 49-51 defeat for a resolution that would have repealed a Bureau of Land Management rule curbing methane emissions, with Republicans John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Susan Collins joining Democrats in voting against it. McCain was a last-minute "no," depriving Vice President Pence the opportunity to cast the tie-breaking vote, according to the Hill. The rule prohibits companies drilling on federal land from burning off excess natural gas and releasing methane into the atmosphere, NPR reports. It was the first time under Trump the Senate failed to repeal an Obama-era rule using the Congressional Review Act—something it has done 13 times already. The CRA allows Congress to overturn rules that were enacted within 60 legislative workdays. But McCain expressed concern in this case that using the CRA would prevent the possibility of similar regulations in the future. That echoes a similar sentiment from Graham. While environmentalists celebrate the win, energy industry officials are now planning an effort to rewrite the rule, which federal estimates say prevents 180,000 tons of methane a year from entering the atmosphere but which the energy industry says makes drilling on federal land overly expensive. Thursday is the final day to use the CRA to overturn Obama-era rules.