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WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday twice voted to nullify the Obama administration's new restrictions on power plants to combat climate change -- although the votes were strictly symbolic. A largely party line vote of 242-180 came as President Barack Obama was in Paris for a global climate change conference. In the other, members voted 235-188 to block a simultaneous effort by federal environmental officials.
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The House votes were technically resolutions under the Congressional Review Act -- a process that allows lawmakers to swiftly address major regulations.
The move is a response to the Environmental Protection Agency's mandate of a 32 percent cut in carbon emissions from U.S. power plants by 2030. The rule is the first mandate in history for carbon limits on power plants.
However, Tuesday's votes are largely symbolic because it has already been passed by the Senate and Obama has promised to veto any challenge submitted by the House. Opponents to the new EPA regulations do not have sufficient support to override a veto.
The new restrictions are centerpieces to Obama's plan to fight climate change. In recent weeks, some state leaders have filed lawsuits against the federal government arguing the EPA is illegally overstepping its authority by mandating the reductions.
Because a veto is assured, Republicans said their aim is to raise concerns about the issue, which would undoubtedly have a significant impact on the nation's coal and power industry.
"What the heck? This is all done in the name of climate change," Rep. Pete Olson, R-Texas, said in a report by The Hill congressional blog Tuesday. "Climate change has happened since God created our Earth."
A climate change advocacy group presented a report at the Paris conference warning that coal-fired power plants would hike acceptable greenhouse gas levels by 400 percent.
The group noted that part of the problem is that there are nearly 2,500 new plants being planned around the world.
"There is a solution to this issue of too many coal plants on the books: cancel them," Pieter Van Breevoort, a climate change advocate, said Tuesday in a press release. "Renewable energy and stricter pollution standards are making coal plants obsolete around the world, and the earlier a coal plant is taken out of the planning process, the less it will cost."
"My expectation is that we will absolutely be able to meet our commitments," Obama said in Paris Tuesday. "Because we're the largest country, because we have the most powerful military, we should welcome the fact that we're going to do more -- and oftentimes we're going to do it first."
