House advances bill curbing EPA power plant emission limits
WASHINGTON - A bill to curb the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency to set limits on carbon emissions from power plants cleared a hurdle in the U.S. House on Thursday but faces bleak prospects of becoming law.
WASHINGTON - A bill to curb the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency to set limits on carbon emissions from power plants cleared a hurdle in the U.S. House on Thursday but faces bleak prospects of becoming law.
The Republican-controlled House passed the bill by a 229-183 vote, but the Senate, in which Democrats hold a majority, has no timetable to consider the legislation. President Obama already has threatened to veto the bill.
The legislation was the latest in a series of strong messages sent by lawmakers from large coal-producing states to Obama, as his administration aims to cement a legacy of combating climate change by cracking down on carbon emissions.
Rep. Ed Whitfield (R., Ky.) said the bill was a "reasonable alternative" to proposed carbon emissions standards by the EPA for new power plants and forthcoming rules to limit pollution from existing power plants.
Rep. Henry Waxman (D., Calif.) countered that the bill was "part of the Republicans' ongoing attack on the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Air Act authority to address carbon pollution."
The EPA in September proposed a rule that says any future coal plants built in the United States must be able to emit at a rate of no more than 1,100 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour, far below an estimated 1,700 to 1,900 pounds/MWh for the most efficient plants currently in operation.
The agency is due to release by June what will be the centerpiece of Obama's climate strategy - emissions standards for the country's more than 1,000 existing power plants, the bulk of which burn coal.
Whitfield said on the House floor Thursday that the bill would give "the flexibility to build a coal fired plant in America" if natural gas, which is currently cheap compared with coal, starts to get more expensive.
How They Voted
Representatives from the Philadelphia area voting to curb the EPA rules were Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Michael Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Pat Meehan (R., Pa.), Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.), Jon Runyan (R., N.J.), and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).
Voting against the bill were Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), John Carney (D., Del.), Matt Cartwright (D., Pa.), Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), and Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.).
Not voting: Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.). EndText