Senator Manchin Vows to Stop Biden Nominees

May 10, 2023

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to announce new rules over power plant requirements later this week. The new rule will heavily hinder the coal industry and has received backlash from multiple lawmakers, including West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV). 

Daily Caller reports on the new rule,

“The new rules will reportedly require gas and coal power plants to employ carbon capture technology, according to The New York Times. Out of the 3,400 currently operational power plants in the U.S., fewer than 20 have the appropriate technology in place to comply with the rule. They would have to do so by 2040.”

In response to the new regulation Sen. Manchin released the following statement,

“This Administration is determined to advance its radical climate agenda and has made it clear they are hellbent on doing everything in their power to regulate coal and gas-fueled power plants out of existence, no matter the cost to energy security and reliability. Just last week, before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, every FERC Commissioner agreed that we cannot eliminate coal today or in the near future if we want to have a reliable electric grid. If the reports are true, the pending EPA proposal would impact nearly all fossil-fueled power plants in the United States, which generate about 60 percent of our electricity, without an adequate plan to replace the lost baseload generation. This piles on top of a broader regulatory agenda being rolled out designed to kill the fossil industry by a thousand cuts. Neither the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law nor the IRA gave new authority to regulate power plant emission standards. However, I fear that this Administration’s commitment to their extreme ideology overshadows their responsibility to ensure long-lasting energy and economic security and I will oppose all EPA nominees until they halt their government overreach.”

Power The Future Founder and Executive Director Daniel Turner urges Machin to keep his word,

“There is no doubt the Biden Administration is using every faceless bureaucrat at their disposal to push their extreme green agenda and it needs to stop right now. America’s families are still struggling under high energy costs because of Joe Biden’s war on fossil fuels. We urge Senator Manchin to hold fast to this commitment and not to buy any more false promises of compromise from Joe Biden.”