Rand Paul Wants to Block Pollution Regulation for Power Plants

Hey, young person, did you used to watch Captain Planet and root for the Hoggish Greedly?

If so, sounds like you'd be a great fit for the Republican Party…

The Senate has successfully blocked numerous GOP measures to roll back environmental regulations during this Congress. But now [Sen. Rand] Paul is invoking the Congressional Review Act, a rarely-used tactic that requires a simple majority to pass. That means the bar for passage is lower than the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. And some Democrats — most likely from states with coal-fired power plants — can safely defect and side with Republicans.

For the GOP, it’s another chance to press the Democratic majority on one of its major election-year issues — rolling back environmental regulations Republicans claim will kill jobs and harm the economy. The Republican-controlled House already has passed a bill that would nullify the cross-state pollution regulation.

Just think of all the jobs that will be created in the long run: gas mask factory retailers, underground bunker construction workers and black lung medical specialists. In this economy, we can't afford to not destroy our environment.

It's not like some kind of international energy association is currently warning us that global catastrophe is imminent, right?

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Tags: Climate Change, Environment, House of Representatives, Rand Paul, Senate, Unemployment