The Obama administration drew fire from lawmakers following the finalization of its effort to restructure the energy industry with the aim of reducing carbon emissions through EPA’s new Clean Power Plan.
U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the senior Republican in the Senate, swiftly condemned the new regulation as unjustified and potentially devastating for Utah and the nation.
“The Obama administration has issued a swarm of burdensome regulations, but the so-called Clean Power Plan is one of the worst,” Hatch said. “This rule is clearly inconsistent with both the limits on the EPA’s authority under the Clean Air Act and the Constitution’s separation of powers and protections of state sovereignty. Moreover, according to independent analysts, this rule could destroy hundreds of thousands of jobs and impose significantly higher utility bills on families and businesses while producing no meaningful climate benefits according to the EPA’s own model. Over the last thirty years, technological advances driven by the free market have led to significant improvements in air quality. We will continue to see further improvements without the unnecessary burden these new regulations place on hardworking Americans. Going forward, I’m going to do everything in my power to prevent this misguided and unlawful new rule from hurting our economy.”
Costly new regulations from the Obama administration have spurred legislators to propose major new regulatory reform efforts. “In order to restore sanity to the regulatory process, I’ve cosponsored the Regulatory Accountability Act, which requires agencies to demonstrate that the cost of new rules are justified by their benefits,” Hatch offered. “Furthermore, I’m preparing to introduce new legislation to ensure that courts can properly hold bureaucrats accountable to the law when they regulate beyond their authority, as has clearly happened with this new rule. Americans are demanding relief from the crushing burden of these new regulations, and the time for Congress to act is now.”
