29 April 2017, 19:04 GMT
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The final vote was 49 to 51, with Republican Senators Susan Collins, Lindsey Graham and John McCain voting against the measure along with all Democrats and Independents, according to the Senate Press Gallery.
The US Interior Department finalized the rule in November seeking to ensure energy companies operating on US government-owned land would recapture up to 50 percent of the natural gas that escapes during production at oil and gas wells.
The Obama administration had pointed out the regulation was a part of the then president’s climate change policy, because methane is a potent greenhouse gas believed to be responsible for global warming.
