WASHINGTON — The Democratic-controlled Senate on Thursday rejected a Republican bid to block new controls on power-plant pollution that blows downwind into other states.
By a 56-41 vote, senators defeated a resolution by Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who said the step was needed to rein in what he called the Obama administration’s overzealous job-killing approach to environmental protection.
The resolution taken up Thursday needed a simple majority to pass. But six Republicans voted against it, including Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. He said that while the EPA was a fruitful hunting ground for regulatory excess, the cross-state air-pollution rule would help prevent the Great Smoky Mountains from becoming the Great Smoggy Mountains.
The Associated Press
