TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback declared Monday that a new federal rule for cutting carbon emissions is a “war against middle America,” only days after his administration complicated potential efforts to comply by signing off on a new, $2.8 billion coal-fired power plant.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s regulation addresses power plant emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases blamed for climate change. The 645-page rule sets targets for states, giving them some flexibility for meeting them, and the EPA said that by 2030, Kansas would have to cut emissions from power plants from 2012 levels by 23 percent.

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