As EPA finalizes Clean Power Plan, Senate committee aims to destroy it
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed Sen. Shelley Moore Capito’s (R-W.Va.) bill S. 1324, which allows states to opt out of the Clean Power Plan if they find it would have a negative impact on their economic growth, electricity rates or reliability. The bill would also delay implementation of the Clean Power Plan until the courts have resolved all legal challenges to the rule.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s finalized Clean Power Plan will reduce carbon pollution from existing power plants by 32 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. The rule is an important piece of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, as electric power generation contributes nearly 40 percent of domestic greenhouse gas emissions.
Friends of the Earth Climate and Energy Campaigner Kate DeAngelis offers the following statement in response:
Senator Capito wants to destroy a new chapter in U.S. environmental history before it even begins. Her bill denies the U.S.’s responsibility as the world’s largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases and deepens this Congress’ climate denialism. American citizens cannot afford to watch Congress play games while the world around us experiences the increasingly devastating impacts of climate disruption.
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Expert contact: Kate DeAngelis, (202) 222-0747, [email protected]
Communications contact: Kate Colwell, (202) 222-0744, [email protected]