Contact:
Matt Dempsey Matt_Dempsey@epw.senate.gov (202) 224-9797
Katie Brown Katie_Brown@epw.senate.gov (202) 224-2160
Democrats Reject Latest Bipartisan Attempt to Rein in Obama-EPA's Job-Killing Agenda
Washington, D.C. - Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, said today that despite their constant rhetoric that EPA needs to be reined in, Senate Democrats once again voted against an amendment that would save jobs. This amendment, sponsored by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) would provide a legislative fix for the Obama Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) botched Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) rule for industrial boilers (Boiler MACT).
"Despite their continued calls to rein in the Obama-EPA's job-killing regulatory agenda, Senate Democrats again voted against a reasonable bipartisan amendment that would do just that," Senator Inhofe said. "In fact, six out of the twelve Democrat cosponsors of the Collins amendment must have gotten a call from President Obama, as they voted against their own measure. This just goes to show that although Senate Democrats say over and over that EPA regulations are destroying thousands of jobs and increasing energy costs for their constituents, when the time comes, they side with President Obama and his radical environmental base.
"Boiler MACT is in dire need of a legislative fix as it is one of the most ruinous and expensive EPA regulations. It will result in $1 Billion in lost GDP and put 800,000 good paying American jobs, as well as our manufacturing base, at risk. That is why a majority of the United State Senate voted to rein in the EPA.
"The House has already approved legislation to fix EPA's Boiler MACT rule with overwhelming bipartisan support - 41 Democrats voted in favor of the measure. It's time for Senate Democrats to stop pandering to President Obama and Majority Leader Reid and stand up for their constituents, who will suffer the most for the hundreds of thousands of lost jobs and skyrocketing energy costs that EPA's current Boiler MACT rule will inflict."
Background:
Today Senate Democrats did the same thing they did last April when the Senate voted on Senator Inhofe's Energy Tax Prevention Act, which was offered as an amendment by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. This amendment prevented EPA from regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, while keeping all Clean Air Act provisions intact. Although Senate Democrats continually said that EPA's greenhouse gas regulations will be devastating to their constituents, they opted instead to take a cover vote and support alternative amendments: one was Senator Rockefeller's amendment which only offered a two year delay of these regulations.
The vote on these amendments was a moment of truth for Obama's job-killing greenhouse gas regulations: 64 senators voted that day, in various ways, against EPA's cap-and-trade agenda. Each one chose whether to take the "cover vote" or actually to vote with their constituents for the only real solution to the problem: the Energy Tax Prevention Act.
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