One of the most pernicious contributors to global warming is methane gas, a byproduct of petroleum production that often escapes when producers aren't required to capture it. President Donald Trump, a climate-change cynic, mocked the idea of placing limits on petroleum companies and made a point early in his administration of lifting restrictions imposed under President Barack Obama.

With Democrats back in control, President Joe Biden is pressing Congress to reverse Trump's reversal. Nothing new there. What's worth noting, however, is that an unlikely ally is joining Democrats' fight: Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, one of Trump's strongest allies.

"I think it's just unnecessary emissions that they can do something about, and they'll need to do it," Graham told reporters in Washington. On April 28, Graham sided with Democrats in a 52 to 42 Senate vote to restore methane-emission limits. House approval is a certainty because of Democrats' far more comfortable voting margin. Also voting with Graham were Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Rob Portman of Ohio.

This is one of the first votes Congress has faced on a key environmental issue since Trump's departure, and Republicans' decision not to fight it suggests they could have been more cooperative all along. They just chose not to, probably for fear of upsetting Trump and challenging his reckless approach to global climate change.

Valuable time was wasted because Republicans in Congress refused to recognize the dangers, even as California burned, the Midwest flooded and massive hurricanes raked across the Gulf coast. The world was watching, and America's credibility sagged as a result, undercutting Biden's ability to pressure other countries — most notably China, India and Brazil — into curtailing their own emissions for the sake of the planet.

Although some Trump loyalists in Congress remained critical of the vote, even energy producers acknowledged the damage that methane emissions are causing. "We believe a meaningful reduction in methane emissions is essential to managing the risks of climate change," Oklahoma-based natural-gas producer Devon Energy tweeted after the April 28 vote. "We support the ongoing effort in Congress to chart a path toward a durable framework for regulating methane at the federal level that encourages innovation and operational flexibility."

Another major methane source is cattle, and cynics have tried to use the April 28 vote to launch a misinformation campaign saying the Biden administration was planning to ban hamburgers and cancel Fourth of July cookouts. It is, of course, complete nonsense. The problem is that ongoing GOP cynicism and kowtowing to Trump are delaying what should be a concerted effort by everyone, regardless of political affiliation, to halt a climate-change menace that threatens all of humanity.

The decision by Graham, Collins and Portman to embrace sanity offers hope that the not-so-cold but very hard reality of climate change is finally sinking in.

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