03.20.15

Senator McConnell Urges Nation’s Governors to “Carefully Review the Consequences” Before Submitting a Plan to Implement EPA’s New Regulation

McConnell’s letter to Governors says EPA’s proposal raises “serious legal and policy concerns”

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called on the Nation’s Governors to reject the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed regulation that requires states to dramatically restructure their electricity systems based on how the agency thinks electricity should be produced and used in each state. The EPA’s demands, McConnell noted, are “far beyond its legal authority.” In a letter to all 50 Governors, Senator McConnell wrote that he has “serious legal and policy concerns regarding the proposal.” 

Senator McConnell asked the Governors to “carefully review the consequences before signing up for this deeply misguided plan. I believe you will find, as I have, that the EPA’s proposal goes far beyond its legal authority and that the courts are likely to strike it down. All of which raises the very important question of why the EPA is asking states at this time to propose their own compliance plans in the first place.

“This proposed plan is already on shaky legal grounds, will be extremely burdensome and costly, and will not seriously address the global environmental concerns that are frequently raised to justify it. Moreover, declining to go along with the administration’s legally dubious plan will give the other two branches of government time to address the proposal and will not put your state at risk in the interim. It will provide time for the courts to rule on whether the EPA’s proposed rule is legal, and it will give Congress a chance to address numerous concerns surrounding this latest power grab by the EPA.”

The full text of Senate Majority Leader McConnell’s letter is HERE.

 

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Related Issues: Regulations, EPA, Middle Class, Energy, Coal, Jobs