Barrasso calls on States to reject job-crushing EPA Carbon Mandate
‘Massive federal grab will rival Obamacare in its bureaucratic scope and cost to the economy’
by Wyoming Senator John Barrasso
August 3, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today (Monday, August 3, 2015), U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) issued the following statement after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized President Obama’s "Clean Power Plan" that mandates massive new red tape and job-crushing regulations on American energy producers.
"The President is forging ahead with a rule that will undermine electric reliability, disadvantage U.S. manufacturing, destroy coal jobs and force American families to pay more for electricity. This is no different than the 'cap and tax' scheme the President failed to get through a Democrat-controlled Congress in 2009.
"The Senate will work to advance the bipartisan 'Affordable Reliable Energy Now Act' to block this multi-billion dollar carbon mandate. This bill will give states the real flexibility they need to ensure Americans continue to have access to affordable and reliable sources of energy.
"There’s a reason why over half of the states have come out against this mandate. Governors know that despite the administration’s promise of flexibility, their states simply cannot comply with this unrealistic proposal—and they shouldn’t have to. This rule will face significant challenges in court and states are right to reject it.
"The President, in full legacy-seeking mode, is choosing again to go around Congress and the American people. This massive federal grab will rival Obamacare in its bureaucratic scope and cost to the economy."
Background:
On March 11, 2015, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing on the administration’s so called "Clean Power Plan." The hearing featured testimony from different state regulators, including Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Director Todd Parfitt. Director Parfitt testified in detail about the challenges the state of Wyoming will face in trying to develop a plan to comply with this "problematic" and "unrealistic" proposal.
On May 13, 2015, Senator Barrasso co-sponsored the bipartisan "Affordable Reliable Energy Now Act" (ARENA) introduced by Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) that would roll back the president’s "Clean Power Plan." The ARENA Act takes into account EPA’s proposed regulations for both new and existing power plants. It requires EPA to submit to Congress a report describing the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions the "Clean Power Plan" is expected to reduce. It also directs the EPA to conduct modeling to show the impacts of the rule on the climate indicators used to develop the rule.
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