US Sen. Capito's Rollback of EPA Clean Power Plan Backed by State Lawmakers

Lawmakers met at the Capitol in Charleston Monday to show support for US Senator Shelley Moore Capito’s proposed legislation that will roll back the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan in West Virginia.

Senator Capito’s proposed legislation is called ARENA, or the Affordable Reliable Energy Now Act. Co-sponsored by US Senator Joe Manchin, the bill would provide a way for a state’s governor to opt out of a state or federal plan that could negatively impact economic growth or electricity ratepayers.

Senate President Bill Cole and other lawmakers spoke in support of the legislation at the Capitol in Charleston. Cole hopes other state and federal officials will work together to ensure ARENA’s success.

“We’re headed down a road right now that is out to destroy, not only coal, but natural gas, our next opportunity,” Cole noted, “I am not against the renewables, not by any stretch of the imagination. But if we take half of the money that we have to research the renewables and then take the other half and perhaps work on clean burn technologies, I think there’s a good balance to be struck.”

Senator Capito’s bill would also prevent the federal Environmental Protection Agency from withholding federal highway funds from states who do not comply with the Clean Power Plan.