EPA Chief Gina McCarthy goes before the Senate today for the first hearing about the agency’s proposed carbon emissions regulations covering existing power plants and she is “expected to get an earful from Republicans.” Monday night a group of business interests sent a letter to McCarthy calling for EPA to extend the comment period, alter the proposal and hold additional hearings around the country. This is an opening salvo in the pending legal battle likely to occur over the proposed rule, though McCarthy and Obama energy and climate chief John Podesta have both said the regulations are strong enough to survive litigation. [The Hill]

The New York State Department of Conservation seeks to force Entergy’s Indian Point nuclear power plant north of New York City to shut down during summer fish migrations from May to August. The plant sources cooling water from the Hudson River and discharges warmer water back into the estuary which harms fish and wildlife. Entergy wants to install wire mesh technology at a cost of $250 million, but DEC and others are pushing for cooling towers to be constructed at costs that run into the billions. There is also a strong movement to permanently shut the plant which supplies 25% of the New York City region’s power. [Reuters]

The UK government ruled to uphold carbon emissions targets that cut greenhouse gases in half through 2025. “Britain charts its emissions cuts in five-year carbon budgets. The fourth carbon budget would allow U.K. emissions to total 1,950 million tons of carbon dioxide from 2023 through 2027. That’s 390 million tons a year, half the 780 million tons of greenhouse gas pollution the U.K. emitted in 1990, the base year for the emissions-limiting Kyoto Protocol treaty.” [Bloomberg]