Rockefeller to join GOP and vote against EPA climate rules sought by Obama

A senior Democrat said Tuesday night that he will vote with Republicans on a measure to cancel Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules to rein in climate change.

Sen.
Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said he would support Sen.
Lisa Murkowski’s (R-Alaska) resolution of disapproval to halt EPA regulation of greenhouse gases.

“I
intend to vote for Sen. Murkowski’s resolution of disapproval
because I believe we must send a strong message that the fate of West
Virginia’s economy, our manufacturing industries and our workers
should not be solely in the hands of EPA,” Rockefeller said in a
statement.

The veteran senator’s vote lends Republicans their
most prominent bipartisan support for thwarting EPA rules that many Republicans and some Democrats claim will harm the economy. Rockefeller had said earlier that he might support the resolution.

Rockefeller
acknowledged that the resolution — which requires only a simple
majority to pass, instead of the 60 votes needed to end a filibuster —
may not pass. “But my vote is squarely in favor of securing West
Virginia’s future,” he said about his home state, which relies heavily
on coal mining.

Murkowski’s resolution is set to come up for a vote in the Senate later this week.

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) predicted Tuesday that Murkowski would come up short. “I’ve got my whip doing the numbers. It appears we’re going to be OK, but we’ll never know until the vote takes place,” he told reporters in the Capitol.

Ben Geman contributed.