Former West Virginia governor Manchin said the amendment would block funding for the “overreaching” regulations for what he called “unattainable” standards for carbon dioxide emissions from new coal-fired power plants.

“EPA’s choice to hold coal and gas to the same emissions standards is unprecedented under the Clean Air Act and is yet another example of EPA overreach,” he said.

“That is why I have introduced an amendment to make sure we protect our coal-fired power plants.

“Not only would this rule have a devastating effect on our coal production, this rule would endanger the reliability and sustainability of our electricity supply.”

Manchin said the proposed EPA regulations were an attempt to force coal emissions standards that would not only be very expensive but also impossible to achieve even with advanced technology.

“Even worse, there would be no benefit from these new regulations,” he said.

“After all, experts agree that emissions from all US power plants have only a marginal impact on global emissions and this already small share is shrinking every year as China, India and others dramatically scale up their fossil fuel use.”

The amendment follows up a March 18 letter the legislator sent to the Obama administration asking for amendments to the NSPS regulations.

Manchin pushed a message at the time that he had echoed many times before – that the government should be an ally, not adversary, regarding the development of US energy policy.

The letter was also signed by Indiana Senator Joe Donnelly, North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp and Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu.