Listen Here for the inaugural podcast with Committee Chair Rep. Fred Upton and Energy and Power Subcommittee Chair, Rep. Ed Whitfield on the Energy Tax Prevention Act
In Case You Missed It
House Republicans Pass Bills to Stop EPA’s Power Grab and Preserve an Open Internet
E&C Members Continue Highlighting Obamacare’s Massive Costs, Importance of Nuclear Safety
WDTV: Bill Targeting the EPA Passes U.S. House
A different bill that targets the EPA did pass the U.S. House Thursday, and it is a bill that was sponsored by Republican Congressman David McKinley. The legislation would prevent the EPA from continuing on their recent course to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.
Adam Kinzinger for the Washington Examiner: Capping the EPA’s backdoor energy tax
The Energy Tax Prevention Act is an effective, bipartisan approach to stop the EPA’s cap and tax agenda. It takes necessary steps to protect jobs and restores the Clean Air Act to its original purpose by repealing action already taken by the EPA to impose a bureaucratic climate change agenda.
THE HILL: Whitfield sees industry pressure boosting Senate vote count to block EPA
The co-sponsor of House-passed legislation that blocks greenhouse-gas rules said Thursday it’s too soon to talk compromise with the Senate - which rejected the same plan Wednesday - because industry pressure could change the equation in the upper chamber.
“Groups like the Farm Bureau and others are going to start contacting senators over there about how important this bill is, particularly those senators who are going to be up for reelection in 2012," Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) told reporters in the Capitol.
Congressman Ed Whitfield (R-KY) on the Energy Tax Prevention Act on CNBC
Fred Upton for The Hill: FCC’s overreaching power grab harms innovation, investments and jobs
The Internet’s innovation and success is unmatched and since its inception, it has thrived without government interference. The Federal Communications Commission nonetheless ruled in December to impose Internet regulations, even though Congress has never authorized it to do so. There is also no crisis warranting such intervention.
WALL STREET JOURNAL: House Passes Measure to Overturn FCC Net-Neutrality Rules
“There is no crisis warranting government intervention," said Rep. Greg Walden (R, Ore.), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. The chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Fred Upton of Michigan, agreed, saying that “the Internet is not broken and this bill will assure that the FCC does not break it."
Mike Rogers for the Detroit News: Catastrophe looming thanks to Obamacare
Let’s take a look at the numbers. The average cost of a family health plan is around $14,000 per employee, much of it paid by employers. Under the new law, an employer who fails to offer government-mandated health insurance will face a $2,000 per employee fine.
For struggling small businesses it’s not hard to see why this doesn’t work. An employer could save $12,000 per employee by dropping health coverage and not have to deal with the administrative headaches imposed by Obamacare.
John Shimkus for St. Louis Post Dispatch: A single site for nuclear waste
In 1987, Yucca Mountain was named the sole site for a permanent repository of nuclear waste. The Department of Energy confirmed the scientific side of this decision in 1994. In 2002, Congress and the president approved Yucca Mountain again. In 2008, DOE filed a license application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build Yucca Mountain.
