Lankford Wants to Block Biden’s Plan to Shutter American Power Plants

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), along with their Senate colleagues, introduced a formal challenge to the Biden Administration’s regulations intended to shut down American power plants through a Congressional Review Act (CRA) joint resolution of disapproval.

The resolution comes after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its final rules that impose unrealistic emissions requirements on existing coal-fired power plants and newly constructed gas-fired power plants. This attempt to force the closure of power plants that supply America’s baseload electricity was previously tried under President Obama and overturned by the Supreme Court in West Virginia v. EPA.

“Presidents cannot invent a law or change the law to fit their preferences; they can only follow the law. The Clean Power Plan does not give Biden the authority to force new unworkable limits for gas-fired combustion turbines andshut down American power plants in order to meet his progressive climate-change agenda,”said Lankford. “Biden’s unrealistic push to control standards only puts in place expensive requirements to install emission reduction technology that is not yet available at the scale these rules require. Oklahoma continues to fight back against Biden’s all-out assault on energy and power, and we will continue to push for a diverse, all-of-the-above energy portfolio. We have done that for years without Biden trying to tell us what to do.”

“With this Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval, every member of Congress will have the opportunity to protect America’s energy future, heed the warnings of our nation’s electric grid operators, and adhere to the precedent set by the Supreme Court. This vote is an important one because the Biden Administration’s Clean Power Plan 2.0 makes it clear it will stand with climate activists, regardless of the harm that is sure to be done to families, workers, and communities across West Virginia and the rest of the country. I appreciate so many of my Senate and House colleagues for joining this bipartisan effort to reject another unrealistic, overreaching regulation, and I look forward to the vote,”Capito said.

Full text of the Senate resolution can be found here.

The resolution is cosponsored by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), andSenators Joe Manchin (I-WV),  John Thune (R-SD), John Barrasso (R-WY), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Steve Daines (R-MT), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Boozman (R-AR), Mike Braun (R-IN), Katie Britt (R-AL), Ted Budd (R-NC), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Josh Hawley (R-MO), John Hoeven (R-ND), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), John Kennedy (R-LA), Mike Lee (R-UT), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Jim Risch (R-ID), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tim Scott (R-SC), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), J.D. Vance (R-OH), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Todd Young (R-IN).

Groups supporting the CRA resolution of disapproval include: National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Mining Association (NMA), National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), America’s Power, American Chemistry Council (ACC), Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA), American Petroleum Institute (API), American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA), Western Energy Alliance, American Coal Council, Energy Policy Network, Reliable Energy Inc., Women’s Mining Coalition, West Virginia Manufacturers Association, Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia (GOWV), West Virginia Coal Association, Public Service Commission of West Virginia, Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives, Ohio Independent Power Producers, Ohio Oil & Gas Association, Pennsylvania Coal Alliance, Montana Coal Council, Texas Mining Association, Utah Mining Association, Kentucky Coal Association, Illinois Coal Association, Wyoming Mining Association, Rocky Mountain Mining Institute, American Electric Power (AEP), Buckeye Power, Duke Energy, PBF Energy, South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES), Institute for Energy Research, Power the Future, Heritage Action, Conservative Political Action Coalition, Americans for Prosperity, American Energy Institute, American Consumer Institute, Americans for Tax Reform, ALEC Action, Taxpayers Protection Alliance, and the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council.

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