WASHINGTON, DC - House Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whitfield (R-KY) today released the following statement in response to the Senate’s vote on the resolution of disapproval for the EPA’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule.
“I share the concerns of many of my colleagues in the Senate regarding the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule and I commend Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) for bringing this issue to the Senate floor. The House weighed in earlier this fall with a bill that would ensure the federal government understands the costs and consequences of these kinds of regulations before imposing them on our struggling economy. Congress should be focused on common sense solutions to protect the environment without sacrificing jobs or harming our economy and competitiveness, and that’s exactly what the House-passed TRAIN Act does, which passed the House with the support of several democrats. I appreciate the Senate effort to reject a costly and far-reaching rule that has already cost jobs, and believe we can build on that effort by pressing for a study of these rules and a plan to provide more time and analysis to develop sensible, achievable regulations. Also of note are other bipartisan efforts to slow down EPA’s job destroying agenda. I’m pleased that a bipartisan, bicameral group in Congress is still challenging these EPA regulations.
“The Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) rule is widely recognized as a highly successful program which is currently in place. CAIR has and will continue to achieve significant emissions reductions from power plants. According to EPA, by 2015, CAIR will reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 57% from 2003 levels and will reduce power plant nitrogen oxide emissions by 61% from 2003 levels. The TRAIN Act will ensure this effective program is kept in place until the EPA can properly account for the costs of its new Cross-State Air Pollution Rule. Estimates show EPA’s power sector rules would affect over 1,000 power plants nationwide, putting hundreds of thousands of jobs in jeopardy and the reliability of our electricity supply at risk.
“In these tough economic times, we cannot afford to be reckless with regulation. The TRAIN Act is a common sense approach to ensuring America’s power sector is subject to reasonable and workable regulations and I would urge my colleagues in the Senate to take up similar legislation."