Capito, 38 senators call on EPA to withdraw power plant rules

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., joined 38 other Republican senators Tuesday in calling upon the federal Environmental Protection Agency to withdraw its Clean Power Plan 2.0.

The new rules ignore the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last year in W.Va. v. EPA and would require the closure of more coal- and gas-fired power plants across the nation, the GOP lawmakers argue.

Capito, ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, joined Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in making the official request to the Biden administration. In West Virginia v. EPA, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the Clean Air Act does not give the federal EPA broad authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

“In direct conflict with West Virginia v. EPA, this proposal requires generation shifting from fossil-fuel power to other types of energy,” the lawmakers wrote in a joint letter to the administration. “While the agency falsely claims this does not run afoul of the Supreme Court’s decision, it is undeniable the proposal would require generation shifting that the court has definitively found Congress has never granted EPA the authority to require under the Clean Air Act.”

The 38 Republican lawmakers supporting Capito’s resolution include U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Joni Ernst, R-Iowa; Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; Mitt Romney, R-Utah; Tim Scott, R-S.C.; J.D. Vance, R-Ohio; and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and 29 others.

No Democrats signed on to Capito’s letter, including Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

In the letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, the lawmakers argue that the proposed Clean Power Plan 2.0 is unlawful and must be withdrawn.

“The EPA has again grossly misinterpreted the scope of authority Congress granted under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act by proposing a rule that would require generation shifting and transform our nation’s power sector with neither a clear and explicit congressional authorization nor adequate process as required under the Administrative Procedure Act,” the letter states.

“Similar to the first iteration of the Clean Power Plan, the EPA again overstepped the legal authority Congress provided it in the Clean Air Act with this new rule. This proposal flagrantly runs counter to the Supreme Court’s decision in West Virginia v. EPA, 597 U.S. (2022).”

Capito also announced plans earlier this summer to try to overturn the proposed new rules through the Congressional Review Act.