Two House resolutions to block the Clean Power Plan will be under the microscope next week as Congress continues to fight against one of President Obama’s signature environmental regulations.
The resolutions were both recently introduced by Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Energy and Power. The subcommittee will meet at 5 p.m. Monday to consider the resolutions and continue the hearing at 1 p.m. Tuesday.
The resolutions were introduced under the Congressional Review Act and would disapprove of the two final rules to regulate power plants’ carbon dioxide emissions. Most scientists believe carbon dioxide emissions, released from the burning of fossil fuels, are driving climate change and the warming of the planet.
“The EPA has become a rogue political arm of the White House. Their broad assertion of regulatory authority in these rules goes far beyond what is authorized by the Clean Air Act,” Whitfield said in a statement. “These resolutions serve to halt EPA’s unauthorized actions and ultimately are about protecting ratepayers across the country from increased electricity prices, reliability threats, and jobs.”
As of Thursday afternoon, both resolutions have 15 cosponsors.
In the Senate, a similar resolution is being considered that has bipartisan support from 49 of the chamber’s members.
Obama is guaranteed not to sign any resolution repealing the Clean Power Plan that comes across his desk, as the plan is the centerpiece of his push to work on climate change in the last year of his presidency.
More than half the attorneys general in the country have already filed lawsuits against the Obama administration seeking to get the Clean Power Plan repealed, as have a number of interest groups.
