House panel examines Clean Power Plan's potential impact on states

The Science, Space and Technology Committee’s Environment Subcommittee recently held a hearing on the potential impacts that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan could have on states.

“We have learned in previous hearings that these regulations are all pain with no gain,” U.S. Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK), chairman of the subcommittee, said. “The Clean Power Plan does nothing to avert future temperature rise or prevent further sea rise. However, the economic costs to Americans will be approximately $29-$39 billion per year. EPA regulations should always respect the sovereignty of states, especially since it is the citizens in each state who bear the brunt of EPA’s rules. I am particularly concerned with how this rule will affect the hard-working residents of my district in the State of Oklahoma.”

 The EPA’s Clean Power Plan is the first to regulate emissions on new and existing power plants. The Supreme Court issued a stay on its implementation in March due to a number of legal challenges that have sprung up around the regulations, including lawsuits from at least 26 states, alleging regulatory overreach. The court said the rule cannot be implemented until the litigation is resolved.

“(EPA’s) regulations perpetrate a fraud on the American people,” Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), chairman of the full committee, said. “The so-called Clean Power Plan will cost billions of dollars, cause financial hardship for American families, and diminish the competitiveness of American employers, all with no significant benefit. The administration’s alarmism is not good science and intentionally misleads the American people.”