Industry groups are pressing lawmakers to pass a bill Wednesday to delay the rollout of President Obama’s sweeping climate rules for power plants.
The emission cuts are at the center of the president’s campaign to combat global warming — and a target for the GOP.
“This rule has the potential to substantially increase the costs of electricity for manufacturers and could threaten the reliability of the electric grid in many parts of the country,” says a letter from the National Association of Manufacturers sent to lawmakers Wednesday morning.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s power plant rules, known as the Clean Power Plan, have been heavily contested by Republicans, and some Democrats, as regulatory overreach that would drive up costs with little in the way of environmental improvements to show for it. The plan requires states to cut emissions 30 percent by 2030.
The Ratepayer Protection Act would give states the ability to opt out of complying with the Clean Power Plan if they find it will drive up costs for consumers and harm grid reliability.
“Manufacturers depend on affordable and reliable electricity to remain competitive in a global marketplace. Implementing the EPA’s proposed [greenhouse gas] rule will hurt domestic manufacturers’ competitiveness, threatening growth and the livelihood of manufacturing employees,” says the association, the largest lobbying group for the manufacturing sector.
The bill also would allow states to delay compliance with the rules until all judicial review of the EPA rules has concluded.
The White House warned Tuesday night that Obama would veto the bill. The administration says the bill would pose serious harm to public health by preventing the EPA from confronting the threat of climate change pollution that is causing a rise in cardiovascular disease while placing pressure on states to respond to flooding and increased droughts.
The White House says the bill is not needed because the Clean Power Plan is still only a proposed regulation and has not become law. Nevertheless, senior climate adviser to the president, Brian Deese, and EPA chief Gina McCarthy said Tuesday that the administration is on track to issue the first-time rules for existing power plants this summer.
The Office of Management and Budget has slated August as the month when the rules will become final.
