WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, led 43 of her Senate colleagues in introducing a formal challenge to the Biden administration’s regulations intended to shut down American power plants through a Congressional Review Act (CRA) joint resolution of disapproval.

The resolution comes after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its final rules that impose unrealistic emissions requirements on existing coal-fired power plants and newly constructed gas-fired power plants. This attempt to force the closure of power plants that supply America’s baseload electricity was previously tried under President Obama and overturned by the Supreme Court in West Virginia v. EPA.

“With this Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval, every member of Congress will have the opportunity to protect America’s energy future, heed the warnings of our nation’s electric grid operators, and adhere to the precedent set by the Supreme Court. This vote is an important one because the Biden administration’s Clean Power Plan 2.0 makes it clear it will stand with climate activists, regardless of the harm that is sure to be done to families, workers, and communities across West Virginia and the rest of the country. I appreciate so many of my Senate and House colleagues for joining this bipartisan effort to reject another unrealistic, overreaching regulation, and I look forward to the vote,” Ranking Member Capito said.

As Ranking Member Capito introduced the CRA resolution in the Senate, US. Rep. Troy Balderson (R-Ohio-12) simultaneously led 138 of his colleagues in introducing an identical resolution in the House.

“The Clean Power Plan 2.0 was created by and for extreme activists, ignoring the real-world harm it will cause to our electric grid and American energy security,” Rep. Balderson said. “Slashing our baseload energy production while power demand continues to climb at historic levels is dangerous and will have a catastrophic impact for Ohioans. This Congressional Review Act resolution allows Congress to step in and block the Biden administration’s efforts to eliminate our reliable power generation by 2032.”

Full text of the Senate resolution can be found here.

Ranking Member Capito’s Senate resolution is cosponsored by U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.), as well as U.S. Senators Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), John Thune (R-S.D.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), John Kennedy (R-La.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Thom Tillis (R-N.C), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), and Todd Young (R-Ind.).

Groups supporting the CRA resolution of disapproval include: National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Mining Association (NMA), National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), America’s Power, American Chemistry Council (ACC), Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA), American Petroleum Institute (API), American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA), Western Energy Alliance, American Coal Council, Energy Policy Network, Reliable Energy Inc., Women’s Mining Coalition, West Virginia Manufacturers Association, Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia (GOWV), West Virginia Coal Association, Public Service Commission of West Virginia, Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives, Ohio Independent Power Producers, Ohio Oil & Gas Association, Pennsylvania Coal Alliance, Montana Coal Council, Texas Mining Association, Utah Mining Association, Kentucky Coal Association, Illinois Coal Association, Wyoming Mining Association, Rocky Mountain Mining Institute, American Electric Power (AEP), Buckeye Power, Duke Energy, PBF Energy, South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES), Institute for Energy Research, Power the Future, Heritage Action, Conservative Political Action Coalition, Americans for Prosperity, American Energy Institute, American Consumer Institute, Americans for Tax Reform, ALEC Action, Taxpayers Protection Alliance, and the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council.

BACKGROUND ON CAPITO’S OPPOSITION TO EPA’S CLEAN POWER PLAN 2.O:

In December 2023, Ranking Member Capito and U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member of the Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee, sent a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan to again outline significant concerns with the administration’s proposed Clean Power Plan 2.0.

Two days later, Capito and Barrasso sent a letter to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) urging the commissioners to work with the EPA to improve the agency’s proposed Clean Power Plan 2.0 and fix the associated threats to electric reliability the plan presents, brought to light during a FERC technical conference on the Clean Power Plan 2.0 held in November 2023. Ranking Members Capito and Barrasso also sent two other letters to FERC on this topic in June 2023 (requesting the technical conference) and November 2023 (recommending areas of focus for the conference).

In August 2023, Ranking Member Capito led 38 other Republican senators, including Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), in filing comments on the proposed Clean Power Plan 2.0, calling on the EPA to withdraw its plans to force the closure of coal and gas-fired power plants.

In June 2023, Ranking Member Capito and U.S. Rep. Carol Miller (R-W.Va.-01) introduced the Protect Our Power Plants (POPP) Act, legislation to prevent the EPA from implementing the Clean Power Plan 2.0.

In May 2023, Ranking Member Capito announced plans to lead efforts through the CRA to overturn the rules once they were finalized and published by the EPA.

In 2015, Senators Capito and McConnell successfully challenged then-President Obama’s original Clean Power Plan, which the Supreme Court later overturned, with CRA resolutions of disapproval on the administration’s rules targeting both existing and new power plants. The Senate approved both resolutions: S.J. Res 24 introduced by Capito, and S.J. Res 23 introduced McConnell. The resolutions were vetoed by President Obama.

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