Manchin vows to oppose all Biden’s EPA nominees over climate plan

Sen. Joe Manchin, chair of the Senate Energy Committee, said Wednesday he would oppose every Biden administration nominee for the Environmental Protection Agency in anticipation of a “radical” regulation the agency is expected to propose Thursday regulating emissions from fossil fuel power plants that are driving climate change.

The EPA is expected to unveil a sweeping proposal Thursday to slash greenhouse gas pollution from the nation’s thousands of power plants, requiring sharp pollution cuts from plants burning coal or natural gas, the country’s two biggest electricity sources. It is expected to hasten the closure of many aging coal plants, which are the predominant power source in Manchin’s home state of West Virginia.

“This Administration is determined to advance its radical climate agenda and has made it clear they are hellbent on doing everything in their power to regulate coal and gas-fueled power plants out of existence, no matter the cost to energy security and reliability,” Manchin said in a statement. “I fear that this Administration’s commitment to their extreme ideology overshadows their responsibility to ensure long-lasting energy and economic security and I will oppose all EPA nominees until they halt their government overreach.”