Greens push senators to oppose power plant resolutions

Environmental groups and climate change activists are urging senators to oppose Republican efforts to dismantle key Obama climate regulations.

Ahead of a potential vote on resolutions against two Obama rules limiting carbon emissions from power plants, a slate of green groups sent a letter to senators on Monday asking them to preserve the regulations.

{mosads}Another group launched a radio ad pushing senators on the matter, and the climate rules have become a campaign issue in at least one Senate race.

The push comes as the Senate gears up to vote on Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions meant to block Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which limits emissions from existing power plants, and another rule for new power pants.

Greens support the rules, which are the cornerstone of President Obama’s climate change agenda.

The resolutions against the rules “are an extreme assault on public health, the clean energy economy, and modernizing our energy sector,” a coalition of  green groups, including the League of Conservation Voters, Sierra Club and 350.org, wrote in a letter to members on Monday.

“The Clean Power Plan puts in place commonsense limits on power plant carbon pollution, developed with the input of thousands of stakeholders, and provides the flexibility states need to develop their own plans to meet pollution reduction targets. Blocking these commonsense safeguards puts polluter profits before the health of our children.”

Republicans and red-state Democrats have warned that the power plant rules will raise electricity prices, pose a threat to the reliability of the electric grid and hurt the coal industry around the country. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is leading the effort against the rules in the Senate.  

The CRA resolutions could come up for a vote as soon as this week. President Obama is certain to veto anything undoing the climate rules, making them more a political tool than anything else right now.

On Friday, the Sierra Club put out polling in several states showing high support for the climate regulations, and the group released radio ads in Missouri on Monday telling Sens. Claire McCaskill (D) and Roy Blunt (R) to vote against the resolutions.

“Voters across the partisan spectrum want the EPA to limit dangerous carbon pollution and are ready to support candidates who will act to make that happen,” Grace McRae, Sierra Club’s polling and research director, said in a statement.

Elsewhere, Democrats are looking to make the Clean Power Plan a campaign issue.

In Illinois, Sen. Mark Kirk’s (R) top 2016 challenger, Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D) and advocacy groups held a press conference Monday calling on Kirk to oppose the resolutions.

Kirk, a vulnerable incumbent heading into next fall’s elections, has voiced his support for measures killing the climate rules. His campaign shot back against Duckworth’s press conference on Monday.

“Representative Duckworth and her D.C. special interest groups, fueled by dark money and hyper partisan billionaires, have already spent millions of dollars in negative, misleading attack ads against Sen. Kirk,” campaign manager Kevin Artl said in a statement.

“But the simple truth is Sen. Kirk continues to achieve results for Illinois families while Rep. Duckworth has been named as one of the least effective members of Congress.”

“As parents, we must provide a cleaner, healthier, more prosperous future for our children and Senator Kirk has an opportunity to demonstrate leadership in the United States Senate on this issue,” Duckworth said in a statement.

—This post was updated at 5:58 p.m.