In an oped in the Lexington Herald-Leader, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has issued a call for other states to reject Obama's Clean Power Plan. Full of rhetoric and short on hard citations (referring, for example, to an unnamed but "respected group of economists"), the piece reads like a typical stump speech. It features all the regular talking points, using incendiary terms like "draconian," while charging that the Clean Power Plan is an "attack on the middle class," that it threatens to cause "price hikes," and that it will likely "throw countless out of work."
With all of McConnell's blustering about Obama's "decree" from on high, The Hill points out a rather amusing piece of irony—the Secretary of Energy and Environment from McConnell's own state said the EPA has done "incredible" state outreach, helping states tailor the rule to fit their situation.
And the AP ends its story with another ironic note, pointing out that Republicans are criticizing the EPA's budget request for $3.5 million to hire 20 additional lawyers to defend the plan from Republican-led lawsuits against it.
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