Contacts:
Matt Dempsey Matt_Dempsey@epw.senate.gov (202) 224-9797
Katie Brown Katie_Brown@epw.senate.gov (202) 224-2160
Inhofe Announces Steps to Defeat EPA’s Utility MACT
Inhofe seeks EPA IG inquiry on utility MACT scienceEPW Policy Beat: The Utility MACT Blackout
Washington, DC – Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), today announced his intention to file a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Utility MACT rule. The CRA provides that once the resolution has 30 supporters, it may be placed on the Senate calendar, and passed by a simple majority vote. If adopted by both chambers and signed by the President, the joint resolution would effectively overturn Utility MACT.
“Today EPA announced yet another costly rule that will have a devastating effect on jobs and American families,” Senator Inhofe said. “This fulfills President Obama’s campaign promise: Utility MACT will cause electricity prices to ‘necessarily skyrocket.’
“The economic analysis of the Obama EPA’s Utility MACT paints a bleak picture for economic recovery as it will cost $11 billion to implement, increase electricity rates for every American, and, along with the Cross-State rule, destroy nearly 1.4 million jobs. This contrasts sharply with the mere $6 million in direct benefits the Agency projects from the rule’s implementation. “Sadly, this rule isn’t about public health. It is a thinly veiled electricity tax that continues the Obama Administration’s war on affordable energy and is the latest in an unprecedented barrage of regulations that make up EPA’s job-killing regulatory agenda.
“As Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, I am determined to apply the brakes to President Obama’s runaway regulatory agenda before it wrecks our economy. First, when the Senate returns, I will introduce a CRA that will provide the Congress the ability to stop EPA from destroying jobs with Utility MACT. Second, I have introduced S. 1971, the Comprehensive Assessment of Regulations on the Economy Act of 2011 (CARE), which forces EPA to evaluate burden it is placing on the economy and replaces several of the Agency’s most harmful regulations with rules that reduce emissions while protecting jobs. And third, I have called for an IG investigation of the process EPA used to finalize the Utility MACT and other job-killing rules, focusing on the Agency’s blatant disregard for procedures that are designed to protect the public interest and the integrity of the science.
“Even President Obama has acknowledged that EPA’s rules are killing jobs and severely harming economic recovery. Yet Utility MACT provides few, if any, environmental benefits. Given the job losses that will stem from this rule, I would agree with White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley when he asked, just before the President’s ozone decision, ‘What are the health impacts of unemployment?’”###
Related Files
- S. 1971 CARE - S1971CAREPDF.PDF (92.5 KBs)