Providing for Congressional Disapproval of a Rule Submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency

Floor Speech

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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in strong opposition to this resolution, and I oppose the other resolution that we will also consider this afternoon.

Once again, Republicans are attempting to stop any action by this administration to reduce carbon emissions, and, once again, the opponents of the EPA's regulations have no constructive alternative to offer that would improve the environmental performance of the electricity sector.

In fact, this week, the House of Representatives will not only consider these two unnecessary, ill-conceived resolutions, but it will also consider an energy bill that is dedicated to rolling back gains that have been made in energy efficiency, grid modernization, and renewable energy.

Mr. Speaker, governments and many of the world's largest private sector companies are gathered in Paris this week. They are putting forward innovative ideas, and they are making commitments to forge a different energy path--one that will prevent us from further overheating the Earth and causing major disruptions to people's lives, their property, and the global economy.

We know that climate change is harming us today through droughts, fires, floods, and storms, and we know that it will endanger our children's future if we don't act now.

Some of the opposition to these resolutions is based on the assertion that they will not solve the world's carbon emissions problems or ensure that we will avoid increased warming and catastrophic climate change, but that is not true. Reducing carbon pollution from the power sector through the implementation of performance standards for new power plants and improving the overall environmental performance of our grid will reduce carbon emissions here in the United States.

By making a commitment to this effort and demonstrating that reducing pollution is consistent with maintaining a reliable, resilient electricity supply, the United States exercises its leadership, giving assurance to other nations to follow our example.

This resolution and its companion will block the EPA and this administration from taking prudent steps to reduce carbon pollution from one of the highest emitting sectors, the power sector.

That is not all. The Congressional Review Act stipulates that the passage of a resolution to block a final rule also bars the Agency from issuing any rules that are substantially similar. So these resolutions prevent any future administration from developing similar rules to control carbon emissions from power plants.

The irony is that this sector already is poised to make many of the changes that are contained within these EPA rules. These changes are being driven by a combination of factors, only one of which is Federal regulation. State policies, changes in the relative price of natural gas and coal, smart grid technologies, consumer demand, and the further expansion of wind and solar generation all are factors that are reshaping the grid and redefining relationships within the electricity sector.

Instead of trying to hold back these forces, we should be helping States, local governments, consumers, grid operators, utilities, and displaced workers to make this transition easier.

Every significant effort to improve air quality through the Clean Air Act regulations has met the same tired, old arguments from the GOP--that it will cost too much, that it will jeopardize the reliability of our electricity system, that we don't have the technology to meet these new standards. Every time these dire predictions by my Republican colleagues are put forward, they have failed to materialize.

We have already had delayed action on climate change, Mr. Speaker, for too long. The EPA's rules to set greenhouse gas emissions standards for new and reconstructed generating units is an essential first step toward a more sustainable energy future. This rule sends a strong signal to the market in favor of technologies that provide improved environmental performance.

These EPA rules--this one and the one that will be mentioned later today--should move forward, and this joint resolution should be defeated. I urge a ``no'' vote on the resolution.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I just have to say, I listened to my colleague from Kentucky (Mr. Whitfield), who I respect a great deal. I think he is suggesting that somehow the Republicans on our committee or maybe the leadership in the House do want to address climate change.

Every time that I have tried in the committee to bring up the issue of climate change, nothing has happened. We haven't had a hearing. We haven't had a bill. We haven't had any initiative since I have been on the committee, let alone served as the ranking member, in the last year--any initiative--that would address the issue of climate change.

So when my colleague from Kentucky says, ``Well, we are not denying that this exists. We just don't think it is a priority,'' well, it is not only not a priority. It is not something we have addressed at all in any way anytime the Democrats or myself have tried to raise this issue.

To suggest that it shouldn't be a priority--and maybe that is not what he is saying, but it sounded that way--well, I come from a district where we had Hurricane Sandy that devastated our district. We have droughts in California--we were just discussing it with my California colleagues who will be speaking soon--and all kinds of weather extremes that are causing all kinds of problems--loss of jobs, destruction around the country that has to be made up for later by FEMA and other Federal agencies that come in and spend billions of dollars to try to correct these problems. To suggest that this is not a priority I think is wrong. To suggest that somehow maybe the Republicans are dealing with it is simply not the case.

Again, I know you don't particularly like the President's power plan, but at least he is trying to do something. I don't see the GOP addressing this at all.

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