Joe Biden’s Power Plans Knocked by Joe Manchin

(RightWing.org) – President Joe Biden started forcing his climate agenda on the American people on his first day in office by reentering the Paris Climate Agreement and through executive order. Then, he managed to force the largest investment in environmental/climate policy in US history when he signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law in August 2022. However, Rep. Joe Manchin (D-WV) recently pushed back on the administration’s latest effort to hamstring the nation’s energy sector.

On May 10, Manchin issued a scorched earth press release preemptively throwing a wrench into the Biden Administration’s anticipated attack on fossil fuel-operated power plants. Rumor had been circulating that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would release a new rule the following day, throttling future operations at those facilities. He vowed to “oppose every EPA nominee” presented to the Senate by Biden until he reversed the proposed action.

Manchin accused the administration of attempting to impose its “radical climate agenda” on the American people. He also claimed it was “hellbent” on abusing its power to “regulate coal and gas-fueled power plants out of existence.”

CRUDE AWAKENING: @Sen_JoeManchin threatens to sink Biden nominees over fossil fuel crackdown. https://t.co/naATsWSgnt pic.twitter.com/nUso2yxkIc

— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 10, 2023

The senator warned that the proposed EPA rule would adversely impact virtually every fossil-fuel-operated power plant in the country without providing an alternative plan sufficient to fill the void created by the new measure. Manchin ominously pointed out that oil and gas-operated plants currently provide roughly 60% of the nation’s electricity.

Manchin concluded his remarks by accusing the Biden administration of lacking the authority to limit emissions generated at power plants. He added that he was concerned the “administration’s commitment to [its] extreme ideology” was overshadowing its duty to provide adequate energy sources and economic security to Americans by destroying the nation’s coal and gas industries.

As expected, the EPA released its dreaded “New Source Performance Standards” and “Emission Guidelines” for gas and oil-operated electric generating stations on May 11. Alarmingly, the measure appears to be aimed at killing the fossil fuel industry “by a thousand cuts,” as Manchin predicted.