Manchin, heading into reelection fight, claims credit for climate bill’s demise

Cap-and-trade legislation had already collapsed in the Senate almost four months before Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) arrived in November 2010.

But in a speech Tuesday that bashed White House energy policy, Manchin said it took some hardball with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to make sure it was really, really dead.

From Manchin’s prepared remarks at a West Virginia coal-fired power plant:

On my first day as a U.S. Senator, I made it clear to President Barack Obama, the Democrats in Washington and the EPA that I will always defend the energy that has made this country what it is: coal. And all the people that work in it.

It started when I told the leader of my party in the Senate — Harry Reid — that the only way that I could give him any support would be if he could assure me that the cap-and-trade bill was dead — and would stay dead.
 
And it is.
 
I killed that bill on my first day in the Senate and I think everyone in our nation’s capital knew from that moment that I’m not going to shrink from a fight – especially when it comes to fighting for our jobs. 

Climate legislation advanced but ultimately collapsed in the last Congress. The House, when Democrats were in power, passed a sweeping cap-and-trade and energy bill in 2009.

But even a scaled-back version that Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) crafted failed to gain enough traction in the Senate amid opposition from Republicans and some conservative Democrats.

Reid announced in July of 2010 that it wouldn't come up for a vote before the August recess, a move widely (and correctly) viewed as the end of the measure for the remainder of that year and some time to come.

Climate legislation went into an even deeper freeze with the GOP gains in the 2010 election.

Manchin's speech also notes his opposition to Environmental Protection Agency power plant rules and mining-policy decisions, alleging “this EPA is fully engaged in a war on coal.”

Manchin, who was elected in 2010 after the death of incumbent Robert Byrd (D), faces reelection this year in the state that President Obama lost in 2008.

Manchin is considered likely to retain his seat, according to The Hill’s race ratings. But the speech underscores the extent to which the coal industry ally is again running against the White House on energy matters. (Manchin's 2010 race featured an ad in which he fired a rifle shot through cap-and-trade legislation.)

In his speech, Manchin mentions the Energy Department loan guarantee to the failed solar company Solyndra (though not by name), noting, “Don’t pour $500 million into a solar company that declares bankruptcy. Instead invest in advanced fossil fuel technology like carbon capture sequestration.”

Manchin also slams EPA’s recently unveiled carbon standards for new coal-fired power plants.

He also touts his legislation to delay compliance with other recently issued EPA emissions rules that require cuts in smog-forming and toxic emissions from current power plants.

Manchin argues that he's seeking "balance between the economy, environment and jobs."