Comer, LaTurner, Oversight Republicans Probe EPA Overreach in Power Plant Emissions Proposed Rule
WASHINGTON—Led by House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Jake LaTurner (R-Kan.), Oversight Committee Republicans are investigating the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new proposed standards for fossil-fuel power plants. In a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, Oversight Republicans warn that these standards are not achievable at a reasonable cost and request all documents, information, and communications related to their development.
“The Committee on Oversight and Accountability writes to express concern with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed rule which would set new emissions standards for fossil fuel-fired power plants. The New Source Performance Standards for Greenhouse Gas Emissions From New, Modified, and Reconstructed Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating Units; Emission Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Existing Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating Units; and Repeal of the Affordable Clean Energy Rule (hereinafter NSPS Emissions Rule) is just one in a series of rulemaking actions your agency has taken to encumber reliable, domestic energy production in favor of advancing the Biden Administration’s radical green agenda,” the lawmakers wrote.
The Oversight Committee is examining how the Biden Administration’s sweeping executive orders and unchecked regulations have jeopardized economic opportunities, raised costs on Americans, and hurt businesses and domestic energy producers. The Biden Administration is overreaching its authority so extensively through proposed EPA regulations that the Supreme Court has had to slap them down multiple times in the past year. However, the EPA seems determined to ignore Supreme Court holdings and Congressional intent by pursuing ever-expansive measures like the NSPS Emissions Rule.
“It is difficult to overstate the threat that the proposed performance standards pose to grid reliability in the United States. If the proposed rule went into effect, it would have the strongest impact on power plants supplying baseload power to the electric grid. […] Over the past two years, millions of Americans have felt the crushing weight of rising utility bills as a direct result of this Administration’s assault on domestic energy production. At a time of nationwide calls for increased electrification, the EPA’s knowingly decreasing generating capacity is a textbook bait-and-switch to American consumers,” the lawmakers continued.
Read the letter to Administrator Regan here.
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