November 17, 2015

Manchin Applauds Passage of Resolutions to Eliminate Unreasonable EPA Regulations for Coal-Fired Plants

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) today applauded the Senate’s passage of two resolutions to roll back the onerous Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations for new and existing coal-fired power plants.

The Senate voted to pass a resolution introduced by Senator Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to stop the Administration from imposing its anti-coal regulations for new coal-fired power plants. The Senate also voted to pass a separate resolution introduced by Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) – and cosponsored by Senator Manchin – to prevent the Administration from moving forward with its proposed anti-coal regulations for existing coal-fired power plants.

“The President’s energy agenda has had a crushing impact on West Virginia and other energy states,” Senator Manchin said. “With the passage of these resolutions, Congress is saying ‘enough is enough.’ We are showing the rest of the country and the rest of the world that we will continue to fight against these unobtainable and unreasonable regulations with everything that we have. I have vowed to do everything I can to fight to protect the people and the communities of West Virginia, which have been absolutely devastated by this Administration’s overreaching rules on the coal industry, and I am pleased that these measures have been passed to disapprove and stop these rules.”

Senator Manchin spoke today on the Senate floor ahead of the votes. To watch the Senator’s remarks, please click here.

Last week, Senator Manchin wrote a letter to the EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy criticizing the agency for drafting the Clean Power Plan standards for new coal-fired power plants based on a presently failing Canadian carbon, capture and sequestration (CCS) project.  Senator Manchin argues that recent reports prove CCS is still technologically unproven and should not be required for coal-fired plants. To read Senator Manchin’s full letter, please click here.

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