Story highlights Environmentalists get rare win to keep Obama-era regulation

Rollback of rule aimed to lessen regulations on natural gas producers

Washington (CNN) In a rare win for environmentalists since President Donald Trump took office, the Senate defeated Wednesday an attempted GOP-led rollback of an Obama-era methane gas rule.

The rule, which was finalized under President Barack Obama in November, would require oil and gas companies to actively plug leaks of natural gas while scaling back their practice of intentionally venting or burning the gas in order to extract more profitable crude oil.

The drilling industry, however, supported Republicans' efforts to overturn the rule, saying it would undo the costly regulation, which is viewed as a threat to jobs and operations.

As the clock ticked down toward the final hours that the Senate could use the Congressional Review Act with a simple majority -- the deadline is Thursday -- Republicans failed in a procedural vote to turn back the Bureau of Land Management regulation.

In the end, three Republicans crossed the aisle to side with Democrats, handing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell a rare legislative defeat by just one vote, 49-51.

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