Balderson, Capito to unveil resolution opposing new EPA anti-power plant rules

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and U.S. Rep. Troy Balderson (R-OH) are preparing to introduce a resolution in their respective chambers that opposes the Biden administration’s new emissions rules targeting existing coal plants and new gas plants.

“With the latest iteration of the illegal Clean Power Plan 2.0, President Biden has inexplicably doubled down on his plans to shut down the backbone of America’s electric grid through unachievable regulatory mandates,” Sen. Capito said in an April 25 statement. “The administration has chosen to press ahead with its unrealistic climate agenda that threatens access to affordable, reliable energy for households and employers across the country.”

The final rules announced last week by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set emissions requirements on existing coal-fired power plants and newly constructed gas-fired power plants. The EPA also plans to issue additional regulations covering existing natural gas power plants after November.

“I will be introducing a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval to overturn the EPA’s job-killing regulations,” said Sen. Capito.

“The EPA’s latest rule is nothing short of catastrophic for our electric grid and disastrous for our energy security,” Rep. Balderson said in a separate statement. “Complying with these rules will be prohibitively expensive and require the implementation of technology that has never before been deployed at commercial scale.”

The congressman also doesn’t think that the EPA’s rules are meant to address the emissions of coal- and natural gas-fired plants. 

“Rather, they are designed to force fossil fuel power plants into early retirement and block the construction of new plants, reducing our baseload energy and creating unprecedented grid reliability issues,” he said. “In fact, the EPA’s final rule goes even further than initially proposed, forcing power plants into retirement a year earlier.”

Both Sen. Capito and Rep. Balderson said they are committed to working with their colleagues in both houses of Congress to take action against the Biden administration’s so-called Clean Power Plan 2.0.