Manchin vows to oppose all Biden EPA nominees over agency plan to limit power plan emissions

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin vowed Wednesday to withhold confirmations support for any President Biden nominees to the Environmental Protection Agency over the forthcoming plan to limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. 

The proposed regulations are scheduled to be unveiled Thursday and are part the Biden administration agenda “designed to kill the fossil industry by a thousand cuts,” Manchin said Wednesday, according to Bloomberg News.

The West Virginia senator – whose state economy is reliant on fossil-burning plants – said neither the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act nor the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law gives the EPA the authority to impose these restrictions. 

“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,” Manchin told Fox News Digital.

He also argued the Biden’s administration has "made it clear" it want to do "everything in [its] power to regulate coal and gas-fueled power plants out of existence," with no regard for energy security and reliability.

Manchin, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, last month said he would “repeal” his own bill if the president’s administration continued using the IRA to push the green agenda. 

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