Joe Manchin Will Oppose Biden’s EPA Nominees over Upcoming Crackdown on Power Plant

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who has sparked speculation about leaving the Democrat Party and possibly running for president, took aim at President Joe Biden again on Wednesday, saying he will block the president’s EPA nominees over the agency’s proposed rule regulating power plants.

Manchin, the Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said that he would oppose all of Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) nominees until the administration stops being “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.”

“Neither the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law nor the IRA gave new authority to regulate power plant emission standards,” Manchin stated. “However, I fear that this Administration’s commitment to their extreme ideology overshadows their responsibility to ensure long-lasting energy and economic security.”

This comes the day before EPA administrator Michael Regan is expected to announce new power plant regulations. The New York Times reported last month that the new rules could set caps on pollution rates for gas and coal power plants and could force the plans to employ carbon capture technology. As of the time of the report, less than 20 percent of the 3,400 gas and coal power plants nationwide had the appropriate technology.

“Just last week, before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, every FERC Commissioner agreed that we cannot eliminate coal today or in the near future if we want to have a reliable electric grid,” Manchin added.

“If the reports are true, the pending EPA proposal would impact nearly all fossil-fueled power plants in the United States, which generate about 60 percent of our electricity, without an adequate plan to replace the lost baseload generation,” he continued. “This piles on top of a broader regulatory agenda being rolled out designed to kill the fossil industry by a thousand cuts.”

However, this isn’t the first time the red state Democrat has taken aim at Biden or his administration. Recently, Manchin released many statements criticizing the president for his “deficiency of leadership,” and he urged him to come to the table and meet with House Republicans to negotiate the debt ceiling.

Manchin is one of the more moderate Democrat senators and would be running for reelection in a deep red state. But he keeps everyone guessing about his next moves and leaves options open as to what, if anything, he may run for in the next election.

Additionally, Manchin has also sparked speculation that he may leave the Democrat Party ahead of 2024 and has touted his relationship with No Labels. This political group has been trying to allow all 50 states to vote on a third-party candidate in the presidential elections.

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.