On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) said her resolution to overturn greenhouse emissions performance measures advanced the Senate.
The resolution, co-sponsored by Capito and U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), would overturn the final rule imposed on state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations to limit greenhouse gas emissions. In 2023, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued a final rule mandating that state DOTs and MPOs set declining emissions targets using authority Capito and Cramer said wat excluded from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. The two senators introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) joint resolution in February of this year. The resolution of disapproval cleared the senate with a vote of 53-47.
“Today, the Senate rejected the Biden administration’s attempt to ignore the letter of the bipartisan infrastructure law and impose its extreme climate agenda on states across the country,” Capito said. “Beyond the economic harm a greenhouse gas emissions requirement would cause, the main problem with the FHWA issuing this regulation is it simply lacks the authority to do so. I’m glad a bipartisan group of colleagues joined us in sending a clear message to the administration that we will continue to hold them accountable for executive overreach.”
Earlier this year, two federal district courts ruled the performance measure was not authorized by law.
A companion version of the resolution of disapproval was introduced in the House by U.S. Reps. Sam Graves (R-MO) and Rick Crawford (R-AR).