EDITORIAL:
Push Hard on Coal Ash Bill in Senate
October 27, 2011 By The Intelligencer , The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid probably will view a newly introduced bill as one more opportunity to stymie conservatives. Reid, D-Nev., probably hopes the Democrat Party discipline on which he usually is able to count will stop the bill.
But the measure - the Senate version of a bill passed overwhelmingly by the House of Representatives - is too important to be viewed as a matter of Democrats vs. Republicans.
Sens. Joe Manchin and Jay Rockefeller, both D-W.Va., view it that way. They understand the bill, introduced in the House by Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., is necessary to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from killing more jobs and driving up electricity prices even more.
McKinley's bill calls for reasonable regulations on coal ash created at many power plants. The EPA wants much harsher new rules.
Three other Democrat senators joined Manchin and Rockefeller in sponsoring the Senate version of the bill. Both Mountain State lawmakers view it as a bipartisan effort.
Still, they will have to work hard to overcome opposition almost certain to come from Reid and liberals in the Senate. We urge them to make the bill a top priority so it passes with a majority strong enough to overcome the veto President Barack Obama has threatened.