Gov. Pence to Congress: Defund climate regs

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is calling on his former colleagues in Congress to defund proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations at the heart of President Obama’s climate change initiative.

Pence, a former member of House GOP leadership, sent a letter to Indiana’s congressional delegation backing a House effort to bar the EPA from directing any resources toward draft rules meant to limit greenhouse emissions from new and existing power plants.

{mosads}The prohibition is part of an EPA spending bill approved this week by a House Appropriations subcommittee.

“Using the power of the purse, Congress has the ability to block or prevent implementation of the EPA’s proposed regulations on new and existing power plants,” Pence wrote. “I respectfully urge you to support legislative efforts to do so.”

Pence said Indiana is home to a 300-year supply of coal, accounting for more than 80 percent of Hoosier State electricity.

Critics say the regulations, if enacted as currently proposed, would decimate the coal industry and effectively bar any new plants from coming on line.

Pence said rules would add to the pain of existing Obama administration regulations, which he argued would increase the state’s electricity costs by 30 percent over the next seven years.

“The newly proposed EPA rules for carbon dioxide emissions from existing and new power plants will only cause electricity rates to rise further while at the same time threatening the reliability of our electricity supply,” he wrote.