Hoeven vows to block EPA climate rules in omnibus

By John Siciliano, Washington Examiner.

The Republican chairman of a Senate appropriations subcommittee is vowing to take the fight to block President Obama's climate change regulations to an omnibus spending bill slated to be taken up next month.

"I am also looking to block [the climate rules] in the omnibus appropriations bill that Congress will take up in the coming weeks," said Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., while speaking on the Senate floor ahead of a vote on a resolution to repeal the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan. Hoeven is the chairman of the appropriations committee's homeland security subcommittee and also serves on the Senate energy committee.

The Clean Power Plan places states on the hook to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and is the centerpiece of the president's climate change agenda. The plan is also the linchpin in the administration's strategy to reach a global deal on emissions reductions at a United Nations conference in Paris Nov. 30-Dec. 11.

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