Sen. Murkowski: Action on Emissions Possible with EPA Preemption
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, released the following statement today in response to President Obama's comments on Wednesday regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s plans to begin regulating greenhouse gas emissions on Jan. 1.
"There are a great number of things we can do to responsibly reduce our carbon emissions without burdening our economy with an unworkable cap-and-trade scheme or command-and-control regulation by the EPA," Murkowski said. “Many of those policies, including investment in renewable and alternative energy technology, increased efficiency, and expanding our nuclear power options were included in the comprehensive bill I helped pass out of the Energy Committee more than a year ago.”
“If the president wants to start with the work the Energy Committee has already done, I would be happy to work with him. But I also believe we must first preempt the EPA from meddling in the work of Congress when it comes to setting climate policies."
As the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Murkowski has lead the push to block the EPA from imposing backdoor climate regulations on America’s fragile economy. The EPA’s overreaching approach threatens to raise energy prices and drive jobs overseas; however the agency has so far refused to provide the Senate with required cost analysis on the proposed new regulations.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed the American Clean Energy Leadership Act, which contains many provisions that would help meet the president’s goal of reducing carbon emissions, in June 2009. But so far, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, has not brought up the bill for a vote before the full Senate.
The president’s Nov. 3 comments can be found here.
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