Senate rejects proposal to delay EPA climate rules by two years

The Senate rejected an amendment Wednesday authored by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) that would delay implementation of Environmental Protection Agency climate regulations for two years.

The Senate rejected the amendment in a 12-88 vote.

The following senators voted in favor of the amendment: Rockefeller, Scott Brown (R-Mass.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Jim Webb (D-Va.).

Rockefeller has been pushing for a vote on his proposal for months. He told The Hill last week that he had 60 votes for his proposal, but Republicans withdrew their support for the bill when Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) offered a more stringent proposal.

It’s the third amendment to small-business legislation to limit EPA climate rules offered by Democrats that failed Wednesday. See the other two here and here. Rockefeller's is the only of the three amendments offered by Democrats to limit EPA's climate authority that received any Republican support.

The Senate will next vote on a GOP-backed bill offered by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that would permanently prevent the EPA from regulating greenhouse-gas emissions. That measure is also expected to fail.

The GOP amendment is based on a bill authored by Inhofe. House companion legislation is currently being debated in the House, where it is expected to easily pass.

The White House has threatened to veto the Republican proposal to block EPA climate rules.