Obama White House Blasts McConnell For Telling States To Break The Law

The White House is laying into Mitch McConnell after the Senate Majority Leader wrote a letter to the nation’s governors telling them to ignore new EPA rules.

In his letter to the governors, McConnell wrote:

Some have recently suggested that failing to comply with the EPA’s requirements would be to disregard the law. But the fact is, it is the EPA that is failing to comply with the law here. By requiring states to submit a plan aimed at achieving a lower emissions target based upon four so-called “building blocks” — (1) improved power plant efficiencies, (2) switching electricity generation sources, (3) building new generation and transmission, and (4) reducing demand — the EPA is overreaching, as its authority under the Clean Air Act extends only to the first building block related to source specific energy efficiency upgrades.

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This proposed plan is already on shaky legal grounds, will be extremely burdensome and costly, and will not seriously address the global environmental concerns that are frequently raised to justify it. Moreover, declining to go along with the administration’s legally dubious plan will give the other two branches of government time to address the proposal and will not put your state at risk in the interim. It will provide time for the courts to rule on whether the EPA’s proposed rule is legal, and it will give Congress a chance to address numerous concerns surrounding this latest power grab by the EPA.

The White House fired back via spokesman Frank Benenati, “Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges that we face, and instead of offering solutions, Sen. McConnell’s alternative is an inappropriate and unfounded attempt to dictate state decisions. While Sen. McConnell and the other climate deniers in Congress will do everything they can to block or hinder the administration’s progress on climate change, the administration is committed to moving forward to tackle climate change head on because science, history, and the American people are on our side.”

Sen. McConnell is openly telling states to violate federal law. There has been a great deal of public outrage over the 47 Republican senators who sent a letter to the Iranian government, but little has been said about the Senate Majority Leader trying to undercut the federal government by advising states to break the law.

Republicans have learned nothing from the Affordable Care Act debacle. Republican governors believed that they could stop the ACA by refusing to set up their own exchanges. They are applying the same failed principles to the EPA’s new rules. If states don’t submit compliance plans, the EPA will do it for them. McConnell is advising states to take away their own power.

What Mitch McConnell is trying to do is worse than when Speaker Boehner invited Netanyahu to address Congress. McConnell is actively trying to undermine the Executive Branch of the federal government. McConnell is urging states to break the law. The Republican Party is quickly becoming a lawless enterprise that exists for the sole intention of undermining President Barack Obama.