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Senate Republicans want to vote on energy proposals that could bolster their partys candidates in the November election.

Their problem: Majority Leader Harry Reid wont let them.

Mitch McConnell, the top Senate Republican, is pressing for a vote to help Kentuckys struggling coal industry just two weeks before his Republican primary contest. Hes trying to bar the Environmental Protection Agency from issuing new carbon standards for U.S. power plants, a step that may shutter plants in his home state.

Coal is something that the senator wants to use to localize a national issue, said Nathan Gonzales, deputy editor of the Rothenberg Political Report. Incumbents are saddled with the negatives of incumbency. They have to try to find a way to leverage their office into a campaign positive.

Republicans have accused President Barack Obama and his administration of waging a war on coal. McConnells proposal is among changes Republicans want to a bill promoting energy-efficient buildings as they seek to rein in the EPA or boost domestic energy production.

Reid, a Nevada Democrat, has said he wont allow any amendments.

Instead, hes promised a separate vote on whether to force approval of TransCanada Corp.s Keystone XL pipeline as way to entice Republicans to help advance the energy-efficiency bill.

McConnell, who faces Louisville businessman Matt Bevin in the states May 20 Senate primary, has made his support for eastern Kentuckys coal industry a central theme of his bid for a sixth term.

Kentuckians in the eastern part of my state are experiencing a depression that the presidents energy policies are making worse, McConnell said today on the Senate floor. Coal is a vital industry to our economy and to the livelihoods of thousands of people in my state. We should be allowed to help them. But the majority leader said no.

If he beats Bevin this month, McConnell will face Democratic Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes in the general election. His campaign is gearing up to link Grimes to Obamas energy policy, though Grimes has been a critic of the administrations approach to coal.

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Senate Republicans Seek Electoral Gain on Energy Bill