Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia said in a statement she would soon be introducing a Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn what she referred to as “the EPA’s job-killing regulations.”
The agency on Thursday is rolling out new, aggressive emissions reduction standards for existing coal and new gas plants. Capito and other skeptics on both sides of the aisle have said the rulemaking could lead to higher energy prices and more volatility across the nation’s power sector.
“Electricity demand is set to skyrocket thanks in part to the EPA’s own electric vehicles mandate, and unfortunately, Americans are already paying higher utility bills under President [Joe] Biden,” said Capito, referring to other recent EPA rules designed to lower car and truck emissions.
“Despite all this, 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.”
Capito’s leadership of such a resolution is notable, given both her position in Congress and that her home state is one of the biggest coal producers in the nation.
Under the rule, EPA will demand coal-powered plants use carbon capture tools to block 90 percent of their greenhouse gas emissions by 2032. The agency’s original plan would have set the deadline for 2030.
This compromise is not assuaging Capito, particularly because coal plants would have to be in full compliance with the 90 percent reduction targets by 2039 rather than 2040, as previously discussed.
Meanwhile, EPA is giving coal plants a bit more grace on the front end, but is giving new natural gas plants less time to comply with new mandates. Those gas operators will have to install carbon capture systems by 2032 rather than 2035.
The final rule will still, as the EPA had announced, exclude new emissions reduction targets for existing gas-powered plants, a delay that has already mollified some moderate Democrats like Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) but has enraged climate hawks like Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).
The agency will also exempt all plants from complying with the rule’s mandates if they are committed to retiring by 2032.
Ultimately, Capito said in her statement, “President Biden has inexplicably doubled down on his plans to shut down the backbone of America’s electric grid through unachievable regulatory mandates” and warned that the Biden administration is pursuing “executive overreach that has already been tried and rejected by the Supreme Court.”
Under the CRA process, resolutions are introduced in the Senate as “privileged,” meaning the Democratic majority must schedule a vote on such resolutions within a certain window of time.
CRA resolutions are also adopted by simple majorities, meaning that if all Republicans vote together in favor, they only need two Democrats to break party rank in order to be successful.
Assuming Republicans in the House adopt similar CRA resolutions on their side of the Capitol, Biden will be forced to veto more key planks of his climate agenda in a presidential election year.
Brown said earlier this week he would have to read the final EPA rule to confirm his stance but has voted on a number of CRA resolutions in recent weeks that would undo Biden administration efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) could also vote with Republicans to overturn the new rule.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is all but guaranteed to vote with the GOP on the Capito-led CRA.