Washington, D.C. – The House of Representatives today approved an amendment offered by Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) to the Electric Security and Affordability Act (H.R. 3826). The amendment assures that EPA standards for all types of new power plants are achievable using existing technology.
Chairman Smith: “Economic growth depends on job creators, not federal regulators. We need to increase access to affordable energy, not take energy options off the table. By requiring carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology that doesn’t even exist, the EPA’s new power plant proposal effectively bans new coal power. There is no coal power plant anywhere in the world that can meet the EPA’s radical proposal.
“What’s equally troubling is that the EPA is planning to require this same, unproven technology for new natural gas power. This amendment stops the EPA’s attack on natural gas. It prevents the EPA from using make-believe technologies when setting standards. Only in Washington can you call something ‘adequately demonstrated’ that doesn’t even exist. This amendment requires the EPA to rely on proven technologies when it sets rules for any new power plant.”
Chairman Smith is an original cosponsor of H.R. 3826, which provides direction to the EPA Administrator when establishing emissions standards for greenhouse gases for new power plants. The bill as amended passed the House by a vote of 229- 183.