The House passed two joint resolutions Tuesday to kill the Clean Power Plan, the Obama Administration’s rule to restrict carbon emissions from the electricity sector. The resolutions passed 242-180 and 235-188 and will now head to the White House.
The Clean Power Plan would reduce emissions by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. Under the rule, states are required to design and implement flexible compliance plans that could include increases in efficiency and clean energy. Together the resolutions cover emissions restrictions on both new and existing power plants. They passed the Senate last month.
During the House hearing Tuesday, Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY), who sponsored similar resolutions, called the Clean Power Plan “extreme and unprecedented,” saying it asked too much of America’s electricity sector, especially in the context of global emissions. He also criticized the administration’s role in curbing carbon emissions. The Congressional Review Act, which authorized Tuesday’s resolutions, allows Congress to overturn executive actions.
As with the Senate versions of the resolutions, the House voted largely down party lines Tuesday. Democratic Reps. Sanford Bishop (GA), Collin Peterson (MN), Brad Ashford (OH), and Henry Cuellar (TX) voted for both resolutions. On the Republican side, Reps. Richard Hanna (NY) and Bob Dold (IL) voted against the resolution covering existing power plants. They and eight other Republicans voted against the resolution covering new power plants.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) told ThinkProgress that the vote merely reinforced the fact that congressional Republicans have “no ideas” about how to address climate change.“It’s almost laughable, to be honest with you. The entire world is watching what is going on in Paris,” Grijalva said. “And the congressional Republicans are here with their heads in the sand, demanding we make the same mistakes over and over.”As David Doniger, director of the Climate and Clean Air Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement emailed to ThinkProgress, “Protecting our health, our planet, and the future of all our children should not be a partisan issue.”
Tuesday’s resolutions are not the only challenges to the rule, though. Some 26 different states are suing the EPA over the rule. (Another 18 states are intervening in the lawsuit in support of the rule). It’s unclear, though, whose interests they represent. Polls have shown that Americans broadly support action on climate change and, specifically, reducing carbon from power plants. A Yale study found that the public disagrees with the Clean Power Plan in only three states. Across the opposing states, 60 percent of voters think the plan is a good idea.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/1 ... ower-plan/