An environmental group is touting polls showing residents of some key states support President Obama’s power-plant rules, as the Senate is poised to take up two resolutions to block his signature environmental regulation next week.
The Sierra Club released polling by Public Policy Polling Friday that showed residents in Missouri, Maine, Illinois, Ohio, Virginia and Iowa say they trust the Environmental Protection Agency on air and water pollution more than Congress. The poll found majorities in each state favored the Clean Power Plan, which requires states to cut their emissions one-third by 2030.
Related Story: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/article/2575923
“This data clearly shows that majorities in these states support the EPA’s Clean Power Plan,” said Grace McRae, polling and research policy director at Sierra Club. “Voters across the partisan spectrum want the EPA to limit dangerous carbon pollution and are ready to support candidates who will act to make that happen.”
According to the poll, 54 percent of Missourians and 64 percent of Ohioans favored the Clean Power Plan. In Virginia, 57 percent of those polled said they would be more likely to vote for a Senate candidate who was in favor of the regulation, with 35 percent of people saying they would be “much more likely” to support a Senate candidate in favor of the plan.
The Senate is set to take up two resolutions that, under the Congressional Review Act, would block the Clean Power Plan from taking effect. Forty-nine senators have put their name on the resolutions.
The House is considering similar resolutions.
It’s unlikely either resolution will make it into law. The resolutions would have to be signed by Obama, who is unlikely to undo his own regulation, and they likely won’t have enough support to be veto-proof.
The Clean Power Plan sets carbon dioxide emission reduction goals for states that would bring the country’s carbon dioxide emissions down between 26 and 28 percent by 2025 as compared to 2005 levels.
Sierra Club spokesman Trey Pollard said the states were chosen to show key senators that there is strong public support for the Clean Power Plan. Senate seats are up for grabs in Illinois, Ohio, Missouri and Iowa in the 2016 election.
“They should stand against attacks [on the plan],” Pollard said.
