U.S. Senate Majority Leader Calls For Obama’s Clean Power Plan To Be Blocked
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is calling for President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan to be blocked. He stated in a press release that this plan will do nothing to help the environment, and that it’s only hurting the economy.
President Obama has been enacting certain measures in order to address the rising issue of global climate change, which is currently at its worst levels in the United States. As part of a recent effort, the EPA claims to have the power to enact several regulations for major businesses, based on some provisions outlined in the Clean Air Act. McConnell is arguing that this power is misplaced.
McConnell is also working to convince the Senate that the Clean Power Plan, which was introduced in August of 2015 with the goal of reducing plant carbon emissions by 32 percent over the next 15 years, won’t work to reduce emissions — but that it will hurt the working class. His statement, released Tuesday, reads as follows.
“The Obama Administration recently published massive energy regulations that won’t do a thing to meaningfully affect global carbon levels. But it will ship more middle class jobs overseas. It will make it even harder for coal families in states like Kentucky to put food on the table. Senators in both parties are saying enough is enough.”
McConnell is a representative of Kentucky, which is one of the largest coal mining industries in the United States. He’s seen first-hand what laws like this can do to those who work in the business of non-renewable resources. This plan, in particular, will take away jobs, while making very little impact on the environment’s health — just like many of the regulations in the past have done.
For example, several regulations have seriously hampered the oil industry’s ability to produce and distribute their oil. The restrictions on natural gas exports, for example, are significantly hurting businesses in the industry. Oil reserves have increased by 27 percent as companies continue to produce oil without the ability to export it. Prices on fuel are dropping across the country as oil companies compete to sell their stock while demand is low. Obama’s decision to reject the oil pipeline from Canada didn’t help matters, either.
The Senate isn’t the only unit working to block Obama’s plan. Other branches of government and citizens are beginning to recognize the harmful effects of this law. The plan is receiving attacks from all sides as businesses work to salvage the economy. So far, 24 states have agreed that it’s an “unprecedented, unlawful attempt by an environmental regulator to reorganize the nation’s energy grid.” It has come under legal fire several times in the two months since it’s been put in place.
“The Clean Power Plan is one of the most onerous and illegal regulations coming out of Washington, D.C., that we’ve seen in a long time. This is the most far-reaching energy regulation in the nation’s history.”
Those behind the plan do mean well. The Obama administration is recognizing the need to enact more clean power initiatives in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. However, those who oppose the issue do so under the assumption that it’ll hurt the economy significantly without providing many positives. It appears that this clean energy submission is more of a political stunt than a help for America.
Based on the overwhelming opposition Obama’s Clean Power Plan has received, it appears that the odds of it being blocked are significant.
[Image via Pool / Getty Images]
