U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.,
announced June 18 that he secured language in the Senate
Interior Appropriations bill that would protect states from
any consequences from the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency should they forego submitting a state plan for
complying with the agency’s
Clean Power Plan.
This prohibition of the use of funds was included in the
Senate version of the bill that was approved by the
Appropriations Committee earlier on June 18. In March,
McConnell sent a letter to all 50 governors calling on them
to “carefully review the consequences before signing up for
this deeply misguided plan.” In the letter, McConnell wrote:
“I believe you will find, as I have, that the EPA’s proposal
goes far beyond its legal authority and that the courts are
likely to strike it down. All of which raises the very
important question of why the EPA is asking states at this
time to propose their own compliance plans in the first
place.”
The measure that McConnell inserted in the Interior funding
bill solidifies in legislative text that states have the
option to refuse to comply with the EPA’s power plant rule.
The Interior Appropriations bill must now be approved by the
full Senate.
“If enacted, the measure I secured today will guarantee that
governors who heeded my warning will be protected, while
also prohibiting funding for the EPA to force states to
submit an implementation plan,” McConnell said. “This
administration’s EPA continues its war against Kentucky coal
jobs, miners and their families, and I have vowed to do all
I can to stop them. I joined the Interior Subcommittee this
year specifically to be in a position to oversee the EPA’s
budget and to protect Kentucky jobs. The provision I secured
today is very important to my constituents back home. If
enacted, it will protect jobs, keep electricity prices low,
and fight back against the bureaucratic overreach committed
by this administration’s EPA.”
McConnell also secured a number of other provisions in the
bill that seek to prevent the EPA from implementing
"onerous" regulations that will have a negative impact on
Kentucky’s economy. He secured language that would prohibit
implementation and funding of the so-called "Waters of the
U.S." (WOTUS) rule that would classify nearly all wetlands,
including small ponds and ditches, as “navigable” waters and
thus subject to EPA control. McConnell also inserted
language to prohibit the EPA from regulating a standard for
ozone or “smog” levels until at least 85% of counties
nationwide that are not in compliance are able to do so.
“Once again, Senator McConnell is standing up for coal
miners as well as the increasing number of states that have
serious concerns about the Obama Administration’s policies
regarding electricity production,” said Bill Bissett,
President of the Kentucky Coal Association (KCA).
“Protecting states that choose not to comply with the EPA’s
proposed Greenhouse Gas regulations makes sense and should
be seen by the White House as a growing voice of concern
against their policies that will create more economic
destruction in coal mining and coal using states like
Kentucky. KCA thanks Senator McConnell for his efforts, and
we hope Senator McConnell’s colleagues in the United States
Senate support this effort.”
In his March 19 letter to the governors, McConnell called on
them to reject EPA’s proposed regulation that requires
states to dramatically restructure their electricity systems
based on how the agency thinks electricity should be
produced and used in each state. The EPA’s demands under the
proposed Clean Power Plan, McConnell noted, are “far beyond
its legal authority.”
McConnell asked the governors to “carefully review the
consequences before signing up for this deeply misguided
plan. I believe you will find, as I have, that the EPA’s
proposal goes far beyond its legal authority and that the
courts are likely to strike it down. All of which raises the
very important question of why the EPA is asking states at
this time to propose their own compliance plans in the first
place.”
The Clean Power Plan, due to be issued in final form this
summer, calls for a 30% reduction in carbon emissions from
existing power plants by 2030 (from 2005 levels) through
federally-enforceable state plans submitted to the EPA.
“Some have recently suggested that failing to comply with
the EPA’s requirements would be to disregard the law,” the
senator told the governors. “But the fact is, it is the EPA
that is failing to comply with the law here. By requiring
states to submit a plan aimed at achieving a lower
emissions target based upon four so-called ‘building blocks’
— (1) improved power plant efficiencies, (2) switching
electricity generation sources, (3) building new generation
and transmission, and (4) reducing demand — the EPA is
overreaching, as its authority under the
Clean Air Act extends only to the first building block
related to source specific energy efficiency upgrades."
The Sierra Club on June 18 slammed the bill provisions added
by McConnell and other Republicans. The club called the
additions "toxic riders."
Melinda Pierce, Legislative Director for the Sierra Club,
said: “Whether it is taking direct aim at critical public
health protections or gutting the funding for the watchdog
agencies that enforce them, Senate Republican leadership
will do anything they can to push the agenda of big
polluters. In fact, in a surprise to no one, Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell appointed himself to the very subcommittee
that holds the reins for funding the EPA in a cynical
attempt to guide his fellow Republicans in slashing funding
for clean air and clean water safeguards. From cutting
funding for the EPA and Interior’s budget to $2 billion less
than it was five years ago to destructive riders that have
no place in this bill, Senate Republicans are serving up a
buffet to their fossil fuel industry friends. We urge Senate
Republicans to go back to the drawing board, work with
Democrats, and craft a clean bill that properly funds the
EPA and Interior, and protects our country’s air, water, and
natural resources.”
This article was republished with permission from
