The House Subcommittee on Energy and Power approved House Resolution 910 or the proposed Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011, authored by committee on energy and commerce chairman Fred Upton (Republican-Michigan). The bill is scheduled to be debated by the energy and commerce committee next week.
The bill would prevent the E.P.A. from imposing air pollution rules on electric utilities, oil refineries, and other large stationary emitters. A similar measure in the Senate, introduced by Republican Senator James Inhofe, has not been taken up yet.
«E.P.A.’s regulations are a back-door attempt by unelected bureaucrats to implement the highly unpopular cap-and-trade legislation that was rejected last year. They unilaterally raise energy and operating costs on American manufacturers,» Mr. Upton told the subcommittee.
«Those that compete in global markets state that they are losing jobs to nations like China that have no intention of burdening their industries with similar restrictions. And once those jobs are gone, they’re gone,» he added.
Mr. Upton said his committee will soon focus on removing other Obama administration roadblocks to domestic energy production but that “our first order of business is to stop E.P.A.’s gas price-raising global warming regulations.”
For his part, energy and power subcommittee chairman Ed Whitfield (Republican-Kentucky) said the E.P.A.’s emission rules are not sensible.
“The Energy Tax Prevention Act is not about global warming science, it is about stopping regulations certain to do more harm than good, regardless of how one interprets the science. It is about a dangerous and job-destroying attempt to transform the economy in ways Congress has repeatedly rejected,” he said.
‘Science denial’
Some Democrats countered that the bill is a means for Republicans to deny scientific findings on global warming and disable the E.P.A. from protecting public health and welfare.
“The bill codifies science denial,” said Rep. Henry Waxman (California), the ranking Democrat on the House energy committee.
To that Mr. Whitfield retorted, “It isn’t about whether the science shows global warming to be a problem, it’s about whether E.P.A.’s regulations are sensible,” he said. “They are not.”
The E.P.A. – as allowed by the Clean Air Act – is regulating greenhouse gases in phases, starting with large emitters such as power plants and oil refineries. The rules that went into effect Jan. 2 require such polluters to apply for state permits if they build or expand operations.
The E.P.A. will propose a second phase of the greenhouse-gas rules in July, if H.R. 910 will not pass both chambers of Congress.
However, some Democrats agree with the provisions of the bill. Democratic Representatives Collin Peterson of Minnesota, Nick Rahall of West Virginia and Dan Boren of Oklahoma support the measure.
Previous congressional efforts to regulate and put a price on greenhouse gas emissions were estimated to increase the price of a gallon of gasoline by 19 cents in 2015 and 95 cents in 2050, congressional records showed.
Industry members highly opposed the bill, saying that the E.P.A.’s greenhouse gas rules would hamper production at existing facilities while also discouraging needed expansions, resulting in higher motor fuel prices and lost jobs in the energy industry.
“The legislation [H.R. 910] is necessary to protect consumers, farmers, and truckers from higher gasoline and diesel fuel prices,” said Steven Cousins, vice president of Arkansas refiner Lion Oil Company.
