Collins joins Democrats in bid to undo Trump methane emissions rollback

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is joining a group of Democrats who are seeking to overturn a Trump administration rollback of the regulation of methane, a greenhouse gas that’s significantly more potent than carbon dioxide. 

She’s now a co-sponsor for legislation that would nix the Trump methane rule by using the Congressional Review Act (CRA), a spokesperson for the senator confirmed. 

The CRA allows Congress to get rid of regulations completed in the prior 60 legislative days, to nix the Trump methane rule. 

The tool requires just a simple majority vote, and Collins’s support means that the legislation could still pass if there’s a Democratic defector. 

“I have long been a supporter of efforts to reduce pollution and tackle climate change,” Collins told The Hill in a statement.  

“This resolution would help protect public health and the environment by restoring the tougher standards at EPA that significantly decreased methane emissions,” she added. 

The Trump-era rule in question put limits on the EPA’s ability to regulate methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. 

When it put forth the rule, the EPA estimated that it would have allowed for an extra 400,000 short tons of methane to be emitted over the next decade.

The rule is one of just a handful that Democrats are targeting with the CRA.