FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Shelley Capito, R-W.Va., and Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., are teaming up to combat the potential shutdown of power plants across the state of West Virginia that would result from new Biden administration regulations on fossil fuel power plants.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently proposed the closure of mainly coal- and natural gas-fired power plants in their effort to curb nationwide power sector emissions by about 617 million metric tons through 2042.
In order to meet their goal of cutting pollution by about 90% over the next two decades, the plan would require power plants to either adopt carbon capture, a nascent and costly technology, or shut down.
To challenge the legalities of the plan, Republicans introduced the Protect Our Power Plants Act Monday that would “prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from finalizing, implementing, or enforcing a proposed rule with respect to new source performance standards from certain stationary sources, and for other purposes.”
Capito stressed that the legislation would “maintain America’s status as a leading global energy producer.”
“In the face of this illegal overreach, Congresswoman Miller and I are standing up for workers and families in energy-producing communities across the country, including those in West Virginia. The Protect Our Power Plants Act would maintain America’s status as a leading global energy producer and prevent the EPA’s current proposal from inflicting further damage on our state.”
Coal-fired power plant (J. David Ake)
The GOP bill would seek to prevent the EPA from “waging war on power plants” and allow the Mountain State to remain energy dominant.
Biden intends to create a 100% carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035 as part of his climate agenda to boost renewable power sources like wind and solar farms. Under the EPA’s proposal, U.S. electric generation derived by coal plants without carbon capture would reportedly decline 67% by 2030 and 100% by 2035, while coal plants with carbon capture will increase 29% and 13%, respectively, the analysis also showed.
The EPA didn’t immediately return a request for comment.