Obama's Climate Action Plan

Today, I made the following statement at a hearing with the president’s top science advisor, Dr. John Holdren, and the top EPA air official, Janet McCabe, examining the Obama administration’s Climate Action Plan and proposed EPA power plant regulations.

Today we look at one of the most aggressive new government programs in our country’s history. The Obama administration calls it the Climate Action Plan.

It empowers the Departments of Interior, Energy, Agriculture, Defense, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, National Institute of Standards and Technologies, NOAA, FEMA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the EPA to implement broad climate policies and programs with great cost and little benefit to the American people.

The cornerstone of the White House sweeping Climate Action Plan is EPA’s power plant regulation. Extending well beyond the power plants themselves, this rule will increase the cost of electricity and the cost of doing business. It will make it harder for the American people to make ends meet.

In fact, EPA’s own data show us that its power plant regulation would eliminate less than one percent of global carbon emissions. Analysis shows this would reduce sea level rise by the thickness of a mere three sheets of paper.

EPA’s mandates will be difficult for states to meet even under ideal circumstances. If energy prices or energy demand escalate, the costs of meeting those mandates will soar and American families will be forced to pay the bill.

Charles McConnell, a former Assistant Secretary for Energy appointed by President Obama, has taken the Administration to task for creating a plan doomed to fail. In a recent op-ed, Mr. McConnell asks, “Have we lost our minds? Has this administration convinced itself that it can … mandate something that is fundamentally useless? Does the EPA think the American public and global community are not capable of seeing the illusion for what it is?”

What’s clear is that by eliminating affordable, reliable power options, the regulation will increase the energy prices for the majority of Americans. That means everything will cost more – from electricity to gasoline to food. Higher costs will drive companies out of business, kill good jobs, and leave even more Americans unemployed.

Until this administration can propose a detailed strategy, tell us the total cost, and show us exactly what we will get for the sacrifice—we are just asking the American people to waste their money.

America cannot afford to drive its economy over a cliff with the hopes that the rest of the world will make the same mistake. The only economy the EPA’s plan will help is that of our competitors.

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