Republicans fail to cut an Obama climate change rule to reduce greenhouse gases

The rule limits methane emissions allowable for oil and gas producers on federal or tribal lands

John McCain surprised the Senate with a 'no' vote (Getty Images)

Senate Republicans have failed in a vote to block an Obama administration rule limiting the acceptable amount of emissions from oil and natural gas drilling after three GOP Senators joined a united Democratic front to reject the effort.

The failure marks one the last chances for Senate Republicans to use the controversial Congressional Review Act to block Obama-era rules issued during the final months of the former president. It is also the first time that Senate Republicans rejected a resolution to pull back Obama regulations since President Donald Trump took the oath of office.

The rule in question was directed at the Bureau of Land Management and Republicans needed just 51 votes to eliminate it. There are 52 Republicans in the Senate.

“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 rule that is ‘similar,’ according to the plain reading of the Congressional Review Act,” Arizona Senator John McCain, who cast a surprise “no” vote, said.

He joined Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and Susan Collins in breaking from their party and saving the emissions rule.

The vote was a rare victory for environmentalists under the Trump White House. Democrats praised the denial of repeal.

“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,” New Mexico Senator Tom Udall, a Democrat, said on the Senate floor. “We’re preventing waste, we’re doing job creation, and we’re acting on the part of public health.”

The Obama rule requires oil and gas companies operation on federal or tribal lands to actively identify leaks and then fix them. The rule also puts a limit on the allowable amount of venting and flaring and tells producers to capture natural gas.