Agricultural News
AG Scott Pruitt to Testify Tuesday on EPA Overreach at U.S. Senate Hearing
Fri, 01 May 2015 10:10:23 CDT
Attorney General Scott Pruitt will testify Tuesday (May 5) at a U.S. Senate hearing on the EPA's proposed Clean Power Plan. The hearing, titled "Legal Implications of the Clean Power Plan," is being conducted by the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety.
The hearing will be held at 10 a.m. ET in Room 406 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building and will feature testimony from Attorney General Pruitt and others on the EPA's unlawful Clean Power Plan. The hearing will be available to view online.
Under the Clean Air Act, states are given the primary role to develop and implement policies to achieve the national goals of reducing carbon-dioxide emissions. Only if states fail to act, is the federal government allowed to step in with a federal plan.
"The EPA claims its so-called Clean Power Plan gives states flexibility to develop a plan to meet its emissions goal. In reality, it is nothing more than an attempt by the EPA to force states into shuttering coal-fired power plants and eventually other sources of fossil-fuel generated electricity," Attorney General Pruitt said.
"The EPA doesn't have the authority under the Clean Air Act to make decisions for states on what sources of power are used to generate electricity. Not only is the proposal unlawful, but the EPA's plan threatens energy affordability and reliability for consumers and industry. I appreciate the opportunity to testify before members of the U.S. Senate on the efforts of Oklahoma and other states to fight this egregious example of EPA overreach," Attorney General Pruitt said.
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has held multiple oversight hearings on the problems with the Clean Power Plan and continues to work toward legislative solutions to roll back EPA's proposals.
"Oklahoma is on the front lines of pushing back on the Obama Administration's overreach under the Clean Power Plan, and I look forward to our Attorney General Scott Pruitt testifying before my committee on this issue on Tuesday," Sen. Inhofe said. "Congress has refused to join the president's war on fossil fuels, so instead his administration has put forward regulations that would expand federal bureaucrats' authority over states' energy mixes. AG Pruitt has a timely argument regarding the legality of these regulations that will help Congress and the rest of the nation better understand why the Clean Power Plan must be stopped."
Oklahoma and 12 other states have sued the EPA over a 2011 settlement agreement that was used as the basis for the proposed Clean Power Plan. The Oklahoma Legislature also passed Senate Bill 676, which is awaiting the signature of Gov. Mary Fallin, that would ensure the state doesn't submit an emissions reduction plan that violates state and federal law.
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