Congress acts to reinstate methane rules loosened by Trump

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Democrats have approved a measure reinstating rules aimed at limiting climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions from oil and gas drilling, a rare effort by Democrats to use the legislative branch to overturn a regulatory rollback under President Donald Trump.

The House gave final legislative approval Friday to a resolution that would undo a Trump-era environmental rule that relaxed requirements of a 2016 Obama administration rule targeting methane emissions from oil and gas drilling.

The resolution was approved, 229-191, and now goes to President Joe Biden for his signature.

Democrats and environmentalists called the methane rule one of the Trump administration’s most egregious actions to deregulate U.S. businesses and said its removal would assist a broader effort by the Biden administration to tackle climate change. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, packing a stronger punch in the short term than carbon dioxide.

The resolution was approved under the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to overturn certain regulations that have been in place for a short time. The Trump methane rule was finalized last September.

Action on methane was one of just three Trump-era rules targeted by the Democratic-controlled Congress under the review law, a sharp contrast to 14 Obama-era rules repealed by congressional Republicans in the first year of the Trump administration.

Other rules approved by Democrats targeted Trump-era actions loosening regulations on payday lenders and another that Democrats said gave employers an unfair advantage over workers in settling discrimination claims.

Rep. Diana DeGette D-Colo., who sponsored the methane measure, called its approval “a big win in our overall effort to...