US Senate passes bills to repeal CO2 rules: Update

OREANDA-NEWS. November 20, 2015. The US Senate today voted to overturn CO2 regulations for power plants, despite veto threats from the White House.

The Senate this evening voted 52-46 in favor of a resolution to overturn the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean Power Plan regulations and 52-46 in favor of a resolution to repeal CO2 limits for new power plants.

Supporters of the resolutions say the regulations will do little to address climate change while driving up energy costs and causing massive job losses.

"We should continue to protect our environment, but not at the expense of our families, our communities and our economy," said senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia), the lead sponsor of the Clean Power Plan resolution.

Capito said the votes will send a "clear message" to the upcoming UN climate talks that a majority of Congress does not support President Barack Obama's climate policies.

Soon after the Senate began debate on the resolutions, the White House warned Obama would veto both if they make it to his desk. The Clean Power Plan resolution "threatens the health and economic welfare of future generations by blocking important standards to reduce carbon pollution from the power sector that take a flexible, common sense approach to addressing carbon pollution," the White House said.

Congress is unlikely to override the vetoes, since the measures' proponents would need two-thirds majorities in both the House of Representatives and Senate. In the Senate, that means 67 votes would be needed. Senate Republican leaders have acknowledged they will likely fail to find enough votes, given opposition to the resolutions from all but a couple of Democrats.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee is scheduled to vote tomorrow on similar resolutions.

Given the veto threats, Democrats said the Senate should drop the resolutions and move on to other business. "These votes are a waste of time," Senate minority leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) said.