Energy and Commerce Republicans question Regan on climate rules - E&E News by POLITICO
Energy and Commerce Republicans question Regan on climate rules - E&E News by POLITICO
House Republicans warned EPA Administrator Michael Regan on Wednesday that the coal industry cannot meet his agency’s new regulations to curb climate pollution, endangering the nation’s economic growth.
Regan appeared before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing and Critical Materials. He was there to defend Biden’s latest budget request for his agency but also had to push back against GOP lawmakers who took issue with the agency’s suite of power plant standards.
Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), chair of the subcommittee, said EPA’s rules are “poised to choke the prospects for increased prosperity.”
Carter asked Regan to name one coal-fired power plant in North America that can achieve a 90 percent reduction in its carbon emissions, as called for by the agency.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”