The Senate approved two resolutions Tuesday evening that would repeal the Obama administration's climate change rules for power plants.

The vote is meant to send a strong message to President Obama that a majority of Congress disapprove of the regulations.

The first resolution approved, 52-46, would nullify the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan, which requires states to reduce emissions a third by 2030. The second resolution, approved by the same vote count, would repeal separate but related rules effectively banning new coal plants.

The EPA climate rules are the centerpiece of Obama's climate change agenda and the key to meeting obligations under a United Nations global emissions deal nations will negotiate later this month in Paris.

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said the resolutions will be vetoed by the president, but it will show that a majority of states oppose the regulations. His committee will hold a hearing on Wednesday on the Paris talks. He said EPA has told his committee that the Clean Power Plan is meant to send a signal to global leaders that the U.S. is serious about climate change while doing little to reduce emissions.

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Many scientists say the greenhouse gas emissions the rules seek to reduce are to blame for a rise in the Earth's temperature, causing more severe weather, droughts and flooding.

Democrats used the debate on the resolutions to urge a "no vote."

The rules are being opposed by 27 states and dozens of industry groups in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. They court is expected to rule on a motion to stay the rule early in the new year.