Indiana Gov doesn't wait for House's 'just say no' EPA bill
The Hill
Overnight Energy & Environment
HOUSE PASSES 'JUST SAY NO' BILL:
The House voted 247-180 Wednesday to significantly change the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed climate rule for power plants by delaying it and letting states opt out.
The attack on the main pillar of President Obama's climate change policies was an effort, House Republicans said, to protect states, the economy and consumers from the regulation.
"They've picked up a shotgun and pointed it at the heart of the American economy, our power generation," Rep. Pete Olson (R-Texas) said earlier in the day, referring to the EPA.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) would give state governors the power to avoid complying with the regulation if they determine that doing so would harm electric reliability, rates or important industries.
Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) countered that the bill "would effectively give governors the power to sabotage EPA's proposed Clean Power Plan by allowing them to opt out of the federal requirements of the plan based on arbitrary and ambiguous determinations."
The White House has also taken a dim view of the bill, and has pledged to veto it and any other attacks on Obama's climate legacy.
Read more here.
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/246053-house-votes-to-weaken-obamas-climate-rule
INDIANA GOV DOESN'T WAIT FOR HOUSE:
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) threatened Wednesday to ignore the rule, whether lawmakers allow him to or not.
Pence wrote to Obama to say that unless the EPA improves the rule "demonstrably and significantly" in the way he wants, Indiana will not comply.
"I believe the Clean Power Plan as proposed is a vast overreach of federal power that exceeds the EPA's proper legal authority and fails to strike the proper balance between the health of the environment and the health of the economy," he wrote.
Pence joins other Republican governors in strongly condemning the rule. But only Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) so far has pledged not to comply, an action that would invite the EPA to write and enforce its own plan for the state.
Read more here.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/245968-indiana-wont-follow-epa-climate-rule-unless-significantly-improved
