WASHINGTON – U.S. House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) released the following statement today after Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt announced the formal repeal of the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan.
Chairman Smith: “Today's repeal of the so-called Clean Power Plan marks the next crucial step in a new era of transparency based on sound science. Through several hearings and oversight of the former administration's overregulation, the Science Committee revealed the faulty, one-sided calculations that the Obama administration employed to justify its Clean Power Plan. We have repeatedly found that the costs imposed on the American people vastly outweigh the rule’s marginal benefits. President Trump and Administrator Pruitt have reviewed the data and chosen to unburden our citizens rather than perpetuate a politically motivated rule that would result in minimal environmental benefits. Our nation can now move forward and develop smart, transparent policies that carry out President Trump’s America First energy strategy and relieve the American people of undue burdens.”
Background:
- On April 28, 2017, Chairman Smith issued a statement in support of the D.C. Circuit Court’s decision to suspend the lawsuit against the Clean Power Plan.
- On March 28, 2017, Chairman Smith praised President Trump’s American Energy Independence Executive Order that rescinded the Social Cost of Carbon, directed EPA to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan, and repealed EPA’s methane rule.
- On February 28, 2017, the Subcommittee on Environment and Subcommittee on Oversight held a hearing titled At What Cost? Examining the Social Cost of Carbon to examine the previous administration’s use of the Social Cost of Carbon to inflate the benefits of rules such as the Clean Power Plan.
- On February 7, 2017, the Science Committee held a hearing titled Making EPA Great Again to hear from experts regarding how the Trump administration’s EPA could address issues with the lack of science in agency rulemaking, such as in the Clean Power Plan.
- August 2, 2016: Chairman Smith: Dear EPA, stop acting like a bully and start following the rule of law (Fox News, Opinion)
- On June 22, 2016, the Science Committee held a hearing titled Ensuring Sound Science at EPA to examine the science behind EPA’s regulatory activities, including the Clean Power Plan.
- On June 14, 2016, House Republican leaders, including Chairman Smith, rolled out a plan for the economy that addressed how the Republican party can work together to reduce regulatory burdens at EPA and other federal agencies.
- On May 26, 2016, the Subcommittee on Environment held a hearing titled Impact of EPA’s Clean Power Plan on States.
- April 22, 2016: Chairman Smith: [President Obama’s] Climate-Change Agenda Will Cost American Families (National Review, Opinion)
- On February 23, 2016, Chairman Smith joined more than 200 colleagues in both the House and Senate to file an amicus brief supporting petitions filed by 27 states seeking to overturn the Clean Power Plan.
- On September 11, 2015, the Subcommittee on Environment held a hearing titled State Perspectives: How EPA’s Power Plan Will Shut Down Power Plants.
- On July 9, 2015, the Science Committee held a hearing titled Examining EPA’s Regulatory Overreach to receive testimony from former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy on the Obama-era EPA’s regulatory agenda.
- On June 24, 2015, the Science Committee held a hearing titled U.S. Energy Information Administration Report: Analysis of the Impacts of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan to examine the EIA’s analysis, requested by Chairman Smith, of the Clean Power Plan’s impacts.
- On June 4, 2015, the Science Committee held a hearing titled EPA Regulatory Overreach: Impacts on American Competitiveness to examine the Obama-era EPA’s lack of scientific and technical justification for regulations, including the Clean Power Plan, and their impact on American competitiveness.