The Subcommittee on Energy and Power, chaired by Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY), has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday, October 7, at 10:00 a.m. in room 2123 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing is entitled, “EPA’s CO2 Regulations for New and Existing Plants." The sole witness will be EPA Acting Assistant Administrator Janet McCabe, Acting Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation.
On Aug. 3, 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued two final rules and a third proposed rule to regulate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from new and existing fossil fuel-fired power plants. The subcommittee will examine these regulations which seek to transform the way in which America generates, transmits, and consumes electricity.
Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Subcommittee Chairman Whitfield stated, “Taken together these rules exceed 3,000 pages and effectively impose cap and trade requirements for the power sector. Essentially, what we’ve got is the same scheme for power plants required under the Waxman-Markey cap and trade legislation that the administration failed to pass in Congress in 2010. The administration is looking to regulate where they failed to legislate. Our most vulnerable citizens in Michigan, Kentucky, and across the United States will suffer the most when electricity prices go up. There are also reliability concerns with the grid that cannot be ignored. We look forward to a thoughtful discussion with the EPA next week."
The Majority Memorandum and witness testimony will be available here as they are posted.