House Republicans on Wednesday took their first formal look at the White House’s latest attempt to limit carbon pollution, which Republicans say will raise costs on everything from major energy projects to small business construction.
Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, held a hearing with the head of the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality on Wednesday, to probe what a new guidance on greenhouse gas emissions from the White House will mean for jobs, consumers and development.
At issue is the council’s recently issued guidance that directs all federal agencies to account for the effects of climate change from greenhouse gas emissions as part of standard environmental reviews, which currently do not look at emissions. Many scientists blame greenhouse gases emitted from burning fossil fuels for driving manmade climate change.
Last year, the White House said that a similar proposal “was not legally enforceable,” Bishop said. But now the administration has put forward a voluntary program to “force” all government agencies to account for greenhouse gas emissions in all environmental reviews, he said.
“For CEQ it seems advancing a questionable agenda at all costs is more important than ensuring the reliance on science and sound economic reasoning,” Bishop scolded.
He said most agencies have said the projects they are required to conduct environmental reviews for do not contribute to emissions and have elected not to consider the emissions in conducting them. Yet, despite that, Bishop said CEQ is not satisfied and has greatly expanded its interpretation of the National Environmental Policy Act to include emissions contributing to climate change.
“This guidance, rather than helping the environment, would hurt it by driving up the cost of permitting activities that support millions of jobs,” Bishop said.
“This increase of costs from everything from energy projects to highway maintenance, to small business construction, will have a real impact on the wallets of everyday American families,” he said.
Bishop says he fears that the guidance will spur more lawsuits over the environmental reviews, which have grown in number during the two terms of the Obama administration. Environmental groups, looking to oppose infrastructure and energy projects, have sued agencies over their environmental reviews for not taking into consideration carbon pollution. Bishop said more lawsuits would make it more difficult for developers and the agencies to move ahead on projects.
The guidance also promotes the use of the White House’s “social cost of carbon,” which has been developed “behind closed doors” by the administration to account for societal costs in judging the effects of climate change, Bishop said. The cost metric has been used in a variety of regulations to support the president’s climate agenda.
But that is to be expected, he noted. “Executive overreach has become the hallmark of this administration, and will be part of its legacy,” Bishop said.
Democrats used the hearing to hit back at Bishop and other Republican members of the committee for what they called an attitude of climate change denial.
“Every other conservative party in the world acknowledges climate change and supports action plans and national and international negotiations to address it,” said Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif. Going into the November elections, “we have a nominee that calls it a hoax,” referring to Donald Trump, and a conservative party platform that rejects last year’s Paris agreement on climate change and “its goals.”
The White House CEQ managing director, Christy Goldfuss, supported the administration’s position that climate change is a leading threat facing the nation throughout the hearing, but did not appear to be riled by Bishop’s or any other Republican’s statements.
