Wicker: Senate Votes to Block Costly EPA Regulations

RELEASE:

Wicker: Senate Votes to Block Costly EPA Regulations

Miss. Senator Says Goal of So-Called ‘Clean Power Plan’ Has Nothing to Do With Cleaner Air

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., today voted in favor of two measures that would block implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) so-called “Clean Power Plan.” Specifically, the bipartisan proposals authored by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., (S.J.Res. 23) and Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., (S.J.Res. 24) would overturn the Obama Administration’s restrictive regulations for new and existing coal-fired power plants.

“The Administration’s latest regulatory assault has nothing to do with making our air cleaner,” Wicker said. “These rules would dramatically increase the price of electricity for working people, destroy jobs, and shut down affordable domestic energy production. Simply put, the President’s plan would be a disaster for Mississippi. I am pleased that the Senate has taken this important step to challenge this federal overreach.”

Under the “Congressional Review Act” (CRA), Congress can overturn actions by a federal agency, like EPA, following the formal publication and submission of a rule to Congress. If the two CRAs are enacted into law, they would nullify both sections of the costly power rule even if portions of the plan have already gone into effect. Both measures were passed by the same number of votes, 52-46. They now await action in the House of Representatives.

The Administration’s expensive plan consists of two major phases of implementation:

First, the finalized regulation would limit the construction of new coal-fired plants. This portion would effectively ban coal-fired power plants from being built in the future, thus eliminating the potential for coal jobs in America.

Second, the Administration has proposed and finalized a regulation to cut carbon-dioxide emissions from existing power plants. In effect, this regulation would force the closures of coal-fired power plants throughout the country.

Wicker was joined by Mississippi’s entire congressional delegation in sending a letter to EPA, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the White House Office of Management and Budget calling for an investigation into whether carbon-dioxide reduction goals associated with the “Clean Power Plan” are achievable at a reasonable cost – specifically for Mississippi.

11/17/15