Inhofe presses EPA to withdraw climate rule

Incoming chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) is urging the administration to withdraw its proposal aimed at cutting carbon emission from existing power plants.

Inhofe railed against the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposal to slash carbon emissions from the nation’s power sector 30 percent by 2030 from 2005 levels in a letter to the agency.

{mosads}He argues that the agency cannot double-regulate existing sources under the Clean Air Act.

“The agency has been clever to disguise the expansion of its authority as being ‘cooperative’ and ‘flexible,’ but the agency’s real motivation is to advance a political agenda that it does not have the authority to implement on its own,” Inhofe said in a letter sent to EPA chief Gina McCarthy on Monday.

The EPA contends that the rule is within its authority and is needed to help the U.S. combat worsening climate change.

Inhofe, a known climate change skeptic, is sure to attack the rule shortly after he takes over as chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee next year.

Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has also vowed to try to block the rule through appropriations riders next year.