November 4, 2011. Democrats blocked the first major bill in the Senate that would have delayed the Environmental Protection Agency's clean air rules. The bill, which needed 60 votes to pass, got only 47 votes. Joe Manchin from West Virginia, who faces reelection next year, was the lone Democrat to vote for the bill. His state is rich in coal, the fuel that could see added costs from a raft of upcoming EPA rules on power plants and industry.