SESSIONS CHALLENGES FORMER EPA ADMINISTRATORS ON CLIMATE CHANGE
A Senate committee on Wednesday held a hearing on climate change.
The Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee of the Environment and Public Works Committee held the hearing, entitled "Climate Change, the Need to Act Now."
U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), who is a member of the committee, noted the adverse affects over-regulation is having on our national economy. "And we have to ask ourselves, are we doing something to this economy that's not good for us," Sessions asked.
Sessions also asked four former administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency, who were among the witnesses at the hearing, whether they agreed with the president on climate change.
"The President on Nov. 14, 2012 said, 'The temperature around the globe is increasing faster than was predicted, even 10 years ago.' Then on May 29, 2013 [President Obama] said, 'We also know that the climate is warming faster than anybody anticipated five or ten years ago.
"I would ask each of our former administrators if any of you agree that that's an accurate statement on the climate? If you do raise your hand," Sessions asked the panel.
"Let the record reflect no one raised their hand," he said.
Sessions invited Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange to testify at the hearing. He was one of seven witnesses to testify.
Strange spoke out against the EPA's new regulations issued earlier this month. The new rules by the Obama Administration aim to cut carbon emissions from power plants 30 percent by the year 2030.
These new regulations of carbon emissions from power plants will cost the U.S. economy more than $50 billion a year over the next 16 years while reducing carbon emissions by only 1.8 percentage points, according to a report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy,
According to the report, the EPA's potential new carbon regulations also would cut a quarter of a million jobs, increase electric rates by $289 billion, reduce disposable income, and lower Gross Domestic Product by $51 billion (each year) through 2030.
Strange said the new rules are outside the authority of the EPA under the Clean Air Act. "Those reductions cannot and will not affect the global climate," Strange said.
"The defense of this proposal will be that the States have 'flexibility,'" Strange said. "But providing the States with a narrow range of costly policy choices, which most of the States did not choose for themselves, does not provide any actual flexibility and still produces the same outcome - higher electricity prices and decreased generation."
Following the release of the new regulations earlier this month, the BCA and the National Association of Manufacturers issued a joint statement:
"This Administration has set its sights on the coal industry and the jobs it creates," BCA President and CEO William J. Canary said. "It couldn't get Congress to go along with this job-killing plan, so now the EPA has chosen to skirt Congress and act through regulation. Here in Alabama, we'll all be paying much, much more for electricity.
"The Business Council of Alabama advocates basing environmental regulation on sound scientific study and providing safeguards to the environment without hindering economic development or imposing undue regulations on the business community," he said. "Clean energy should include an 'all of the above' plan so that the most affordable and reliable clean energy solutions can be deployed in Alabama and the rest of the country."
Timmons decried the EPA proposal.
"As users of one-third of the energy produced in the United States, manufacturers rely on secure and affordable energy to compete in a tough global economy, and recent gains are largely due to the abundance of energy we now enjoy," Timmons said. "Today's proposal from the EPA could singlehandedly eliminate this competitive advantage by removing reliable and abundant sources of energy from our nation's energy mix.
"Manufacturers believe there is a better way," Timmons said. "We need a more balanced approach, one that allows our nation's manufacturers to do what they do best: find solutions and innovate. With the right policies that give us access to affordable and reliable energy, manufacturers in the United States will continue to develop sustainable solutions that power our economy, drive growth and, most importantly, create jobs here at home."
BCA is Alabama's exclusive affiliate to the National Association of Manufacturers.
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