The Subcommittee on Energy and Power held a legislative hearing on Wednesday, February 9, 2011, entitled “H.R. ___, the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011.” The text of the discussion draft legislation is available online here. The draft legislation that would amend the Clean Air Act to prevent the U.S. EPA from enforcing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions regulations.
The bill’s co-sponsors, Reps. Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy and Power, Fred Upton, R-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, said the EPA’s enforcement of GHG regulations would result in jobs being outsourced to other countries and increased energy prices for consumers.
In testimony delivered to the subcommittee, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said the bill appears to be part of a broader effort in this Congress to delay, weaken, or eliminate Clean Air Act protections of the American public. “I respectfully ask the members of this Committee to keep in mind that EPA’s implementation of the Clean Air Act saves millions of American children and adults from the debilitating and expensive illnesses that occur when smokestacks and tailpipes release unrestricted amounts of harmful pollution into the air we breathe,” she said, adding that 11 electric power companies have said the EPA’s approach to emissions regulations is reasonable. “Chairman Upton’s bill would block that reasonable approach,” she said. “The Small Business Majority and the Main Street Alliance have pointed out that blocking action would have negative implications for many businesses, large and small, that have enacted new practices to reduce their carbon footprint as part of their business models. They also write that it would hamper the growth of the clean energy sector of the U.S. economy, a sector that a majority of small business owners view as essential to their ability to compete.” Jackson said the EPA has announced a schedule to establish uniform Clean Air Act performance standards for limiting carbon pollution at America’s power plants and oil refineries. Those standards will be developed with extensive stakeholder input, including from industry. They will reflect careful consideration of costs and will incorporate compliance flexibility.
Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., brought up the EPA’s three-year delay on making a decision regarding GHG permitting requirements for biogenic emissions and said that it is stifling investment in the clean energy sector. “We’ve got a lot of people who want to invest in new, high-tech biomass facilities to turn woody biomass into renewable energy,” he said. “They’re concerned you’re going to come back in 2013 or later with a rule that treats biomass as if it were coal or oil. The President wants to see $2 trillion come off the shelves and get invested, but it’s rules like this that are causing people trying to make those decisions to wait.”
Jackson said the three-year delay is necessary in order to conduct scientific research on emissions from woody biomass and declined to offer any prediction regarding the agency’s final decision.
Testifying before Congress in the third panel, Attorney General Abbott explained that the EPA’s regulations are contrary to the Clean Air Act. Abbott challenged the EPA’s recent abrupt changes, saying: “Texas remains committed to working with the EPA to improve air quality and hold polluters accountable. But Texas cannot support the EPA – and in fact must challenge it – when it pursues regulations that are contrary to the law and devastating to the economy.
Abbott also addressed the six lawsuits that the state of Texas currently has pending against the EPA, and noted all of these lawsuits will be dropped as soon as (if) this bill passes. Abbott also noted that Texas does not currently enjoy the partnership it felt it had with EPA 18 months ago.
Congress is now considering several bills that would strip the EPA of its authority to regulate greenhouse gases. However, those bills are not expected to see support from the Democratic majority in the Senate. Moreover, Obama has said he will veto any bill that hobbles the EPA. Additionally, Republicans on the U.S. House Appropriations Committee are proposing the removal of $58 billion in non-security discretionary budget funds relative to the fiscal 2011 White House request, including cuts to climate- and energy-related budgets at EPA.