Coal plants would be able to spew unlimited amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere if legislation introduced by a notoriously pro-coal Democrat were signed into law, and the Environmental Protection Agency would not be able to do anything to stop it.
Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) on Tuesday introduced the Protection and Accountability Regulatory Act of 2014, which would nullify proposed rules recently announced by the EPA limiting carbon pollution from existing coal plants. Rahall’s bill would also nullify other proposed EPA regulations limiting carbon pollution from new coal plants, modified coal plants, and reconstructed coal plants unless Congress specifically acts to allow them.
“The EPA needs to get their head out of the clouds and come back down to Earth where the rest of us must live and work,” Rahall said in a statement. “We don’t need more regulation to solve our energy challenges—we need more innovation.”
The legislation comes a little more than a week after President Obama and the EPA unveiled their rule to set caps on carbon emissions from existing power plants, a move widely seen as the most significant thing the U.S. has ever done to fight the direct cause of climate change. Though the rule sets a national goal of a 30 percent emissions reduction from 2005 levels by 2030, it only requires West Virginia to make a 20 percent reduction in that time. West Virginia is allowed to make its own plan to meet that goal, whether it be by investing in cleaner technology like solar and wind, or lowering electricity demand through efficiency projects.
Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) on Tuesday introduced the Protection and Accountability Regulatory Act of 2014, which would nullify proposed rules recently announced by the EPA limiting carbon pollution from existing coal plants. Rahall’s bill would also nullify other proposed EPA regulations limiting carbon pollution from new coal plants, modified coal plants, and reconstructed coal plants unless Congress specifically acts to allow them.
“The EPA needs to get their head out of the clouds and come back down to Earth where the rest of us must live and work,” Rahall said in a statement. “We don’t need more regulation to solve our energy challenges—we need more innovation.”
The legislation comes a little more than a week after President Obama and the EPA unveiled their rule to set caps on carbon emissions from existing power plants, a move widely seen as the most significant thing the U.S. has ever done to fight the direct cause of climate change. Though the rule sets a national goal of a 30 percent emissions reduction from 2005 levels by 2030, it only requires West Virginia to make a 20 percent reduction in that time. West Virginia is allowed to make its own plan to meet that goal, whether it be by investing in cleaner technology like solar and wind, or lowering electricity demand through efficiency projects.