Whitfield: EPA's rules on coal-fired power emissions inflexible and unworkable

US Rep. Ed Whitfield, chairman of the House Energy and Power Subcommittee, held a hearing on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) cap and trade rules, stemming from the finalisation of two rules and a proposed third rule to regulate CO₂ emissions.

These regulations were decided upon on 3 Aug in order to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel-fired power plants. They have been criticised and objected to by various states and industry groups doe to the impacts they could bring to electricity rates and reliability.

Whitfield stated: “This EPA has become the political arm of the White House, issuing regulations by fiat … I believe that this regulatory version of cap and trade is every bit as inflexible and unworkable as the legislative version that I voted against, and I might add that there are many reasons to question the legality of this unprecedented set of regulations.”

He continued: “Few, if any, of the concerns about the proposed existing source rule were addressed in the final version and the reasons for the Ratepayer Protection Act are still applicable.”

Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/power/12102015/whitfield-epas-rules-on-coal-fired-power-emissions-inflexible-and-unworkable-2997/