Summary
2014: Mike Pence Called On Congress To Defund The Environmental Protection Agency’s Efforts To Draft Rules Meant To Limit Greenhouse Gas Emissions From New And Existing Power Plants. According to The Hill, “Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is calling on his former colleagues in Congress to defund proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations at the heart of President Obama’s climate change initiative. Pence, a former member of House GOP leadership, sent a letter to Indiana’s congressional delegation backing a House effort to bar the EPA from directing any resources toward draft rules meant to limit greenhouse emissions from new and existing power plants. The prohibition is part of an EPA spending bill approved this week by a House Appropriations subcommittee. ‘Using the power of the purse, Congress has the ability to block or prevent implementation of the EPA’s proposed regulations on new and existing power plants,’ Pence wrote. ‘I respectfully urge you to support legislative efforts to do so.” [Hill, 7/14/14]
Pence Called On Congress To Defund EPA Climate Regulations. According to The Hill, “Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is calling on his former colleagues in Congress to defund proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations at the heart of President Obama’s climate change initiative. Pence, a former member of House GOP leadership, sent a letter to Indiana’s congressional delegation backing a House effort to bar the EPA from directing any resources toward draft rules meant to limit greenhouse emissions from new and existing power plants.” [The Hill, 7/10/14]
2011: Pence Voted To Eliminate The Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Air Act Authority To Regulate Air Pollution. In April 2011, Pence voted against a motion to recommit a bill with instructions that, according to Congressional Quarterly, would have sent “the bill to the House Energy and Commerce Committee with instructions that it be reported back immediately with an amendment that would add a section to the bill specifying that nothing in the bill would limit the authority of the EPA administrator under the Clean Air Act to protect the health of children and seniors, including children with asthma and lung diseases, from the effects of air pollution by large sources of carbon dioxide.” The House rejected the motion by a vote of 175 to 251. The House passed the underlying bill and the bill was sent to the Senate, but no further action was taken. [House Vote 248, 4/7/11; Congressional Actions, H.R. 910; Congressional Quarterly, 4/7/11]
2011: Pence Voted For A Bill That Would Loosen Federal Restrictions On Cross-State Air Pollution And Weaken EPA Authority To Regulate Air Pollution Effects On Downwind States. In September 2011, Pence voted for an amendment that, according to Congressional Quarterly, would have“delay[ed], until at least 2015, the promulgation of federal cross-state air pollution rules, and require[d] states to wait at least an additional three years to implement them. The amendment also would [have] prohibit[ed] EPA from using modeled data to determine the impact of pollution on downwind states. It would [have] delay[ed] air toxics standards for utilities until at least 2013 and would require giving power plants at least five years to comply with the rules once they are issued.” The vote was on agreeing to the amendment; the House adopted the amendment by a vote of 234 to 188. The House passed the underlying bill, but the Senate took no substantive action. [House Vote 737, 9/23/11; Congressional Quarterly, 9/23/11; Congressional Actions, H.R. 2401]
2005: Pence Voted Against Reauthorizing The Endangered Species Act Through 2010 That Included Changes To The Endangered Species Recovery Plan Process. In June 2005, Pence voted against a substitute Endangered Species Act reauthorization proposal that, according to Congressional Quarterly, “would [have] reauthorize[d] the Endangered Species Act through 2010 and [made] changes to the species recovery plan process. It would [have] require[d] recovery plans to identify publicly owned land necessary to achieve recovery. It would [have] establish[ed] a program to promote voluntary habitat conservation for endangered species on privately owned land. The definition of putting a species in jeopardy would [have] be[en] changed to any action that directly or indirectly ‘makes it less likely’ that a threatened or endangered species would recover, or significantly delays or increases the cost of species recovery.” The House rejected the substitute amendment by a vote of 206 to 216. [House Vote 505, 9/29/05; Congressional Quarterly, 9/29/05]
2011: Pence Voted Against Allowing Fish And Wildlife Services To List New Species And Habitats Under The Endangered Species Act. In July 2011, Pence voted against an amendment that, according to Congressional Quarterly, “would [have] str[uck] language in the bill barring the Fish and Wildlife Service from listing new species and habitats for protection under the Endangered Species Act.” The vote was on an amendment to the 2012 Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. The House adopted the amendment by a vote of 224 to 202. The bill was left as unfinished business in the House. [House Vote 652, 7/27/11; Congressional Quarterly, 7/27/11; Congressional Actions, H.R.2584]
2010: Pence Voted Against Providing $142 Million For The Gulf Coast Oil Spill. In July 2010, Pence voted against an amendment that, according to Congressional Quarterly, “would [have] appropriate[d] $10 billion to assist in the hiring and retention of teachers, $4.95 billion for Pell grants, $701 million for border security and $142 million in additional Gulf Coast oil spill funding. It also would [have] include[d] $11.7 billion in rescissions of previously appropriated funds and $4.7 billion in expected savings from changes to mandatory programs.” The underlying bill, as amended by the Senate, provided supplemental appropriations for disaster relief and operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The vote was on the second portion of the divided question on the motion to concur in the Senate amendments to the bill with an amendment, which the House adopted by a vote of 239 to 182. The Senate later rejected the entire House amendment to the bill. [House Vote 430, 7/1/10; Congressional Quarterly, 7/1/10; Congressional Actions, H.R.4889]