Two resolutions to block the Clean Power Plan and the carbon emissions goals set for states were approved by a House subcommittee mostly along party lines Tuesday afternoon.
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s energy and power subcommittee voted 15-12 on both House Joint Resolutions 71 and 72, which would allow Congress to block President Obama’s signature climate change regulation. Kentucky Republican Rep. Ed Whitfield, chairman of the subcommittee, said he believes the Clean Power Plan would be unworkable and do more harm than good.
“The EPA seeks to go far beyond its statutory authority and transform how electricity is generated, transmitted and consumed in America,” Whitfield said.
The resolutions in the House are one of a number of challenges to the Clean Power Plan, which seeks to reduce carbon emissions by more than 25 percent in 2025 from 2005 levels. There is a similar movement in the Senate using resolutions to block the plan, and more than half the states are suing the federal government to stop the regulation.
Having passed the subcommittee, the resolutions now go to the full House Energy and Commerce Committee. They’re expected to pass there as well and go to the full House.
However, the resolutions are likely to be symbolic at best. They likely could pass the House, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, noted, but they likely would die in the Senate. Even if they passed the Senate, President Obama is not likely to sign resolutions undoing one of his signature climate regulations.
However, Barton said it’s important for lawmakers to press ahead.
“It’s still a useful exercise because it shows the will of the majority,” he said.
“The American people are not happy with President Obama’s climate change policies.”
Democrats on the committee were less than thrilled to be taking up the resolutions.
Rep. Frank Pallone, D-New Jersey, called the hearing a waste of the committee’s time and said the resolutions are another product of the fossil fuel industry promoting their agenda in Congress. He said the Clean Power Plan is legal under the EPA’s authority given to it by Congress.
“EPA is doing the job we asked them to do, and it’s unfortunate Republicans are using every trick in the book to keep them from fulfilling their mission,” Pallone said.
Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., said the Republicans on the committee don’t need any more indications that climate change needs to be addressed. Many scientists blame carbon dioxide emissions, released through the burning of fossil fuels, for climate change and the warming of the planet.
“We are nearing a tipping point in regards to being able to put in place measures to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change,” he said.
“We are trying to undo the work of the very agency that is most responsible for protecting our air, our water, from harmful pollutants.”
However, Republicans on the committee emphasized the bill is not about attacking climate change.
“This markup is not about the science of climate change,” said Rep. Pete Olson, R-Texas. “This markup is about the law. There is no doubt in my mind the EPA’s Clean Power Plan violates the spirit, and the words, of the Clean Air Act.”
