John Siciliano of the Washington Examiner reports on congressional Republicans’ plans to challenge President Obama’s agenda for addressing climate change.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is expected to make stopping the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan a top agenda item in the fall, according to congressional aides.
McConnell has been an outspoken opponent of the climate change plan, which he says will place increased strain on the economy by driving up energy prices. The plan puts states on the hook for eliminating one-third of their greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The Republican leader, who hails from a large coal-producing state, says the reduction in emissions is unachievable.
The EPA plan is the centerpiece of President Obama’s climate change agenda, which is being contested by more than a dozen state attorneys general, including from McConnell’s home state.
Two legislative measures are being looked at to block the climate plan:
• The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed a bill introduced by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., called the Affordable Reliable Energy Now Act, which would delay the Clean Power Plan until it has survived all its court challenges. It also gives states the ability to opt out of the plan if they find the EPA rule will increase rates for consumers or harm the electric grid. …
… • Second, the Senate is considering a “resolution of disapproval” using the Congressional Review Act, which enables Congress to block a regulation if a majority of lawmakers sign onto the resolution.
