WASHINGTON (AP) — With two months left in President Barack Obama's term, his administration issued a rule Tuesday intended to clamp down on oil companies that burn off natural gas on public lands.

The new rule seeks to reduce waste and harmful methane emissions as part of a strategy to address climate change. But a new Republican administration under President-elect Donald Trump could reconsider the rule or even scrap it, although any effort to do so would likely take months.

Trump has said he will seek to sharply increase oil and gas drilling on federal lands and said on the campaign trail th...