By Andrew Restuccia, Politico.

The Obama administration announced Thursday it would expand its regulation of the oil and gas industry, drawing cheers from environmentalists for the push to slash a potent greenhouse gas and condemnation from industry groups who said it would drive up energy costs.

EPA will begin writing rules to limit methane emissions from thousands of active oil and gas drilling sites around the country, but it will likely fall to Obama’s successor to complete the rules. A previously announced EPA regulation to limit methane from future drilling is on track to be completed this summer.

The announcement came during a visit to Washington by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who also committed to tackling existing sources of methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. When complete, the regulations will go a long way toward meeting a joint U.S.-Canada target of cutting oil-and-gas methane emissions by at least 40 percent below 2012 levels by 2025.