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

Floor Speech

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Mr. REED. Mr. President, today I join many of my colleagues in opposing S.J. Res. 23 and S.J. Res 24.

These measures are an attack on the Clean Power Plan's carbon pollution protections for new and existing power plants.

Not only would these measures undo the health and economic benefits of the Clean Power Plan, they would also bar the EPA from issuing any standards in the future that are substantially similar.

The Clean Power Plan is an important step in reducing carbon pollution and taking action on climate change. It seeks to protect public health, cut energy costs for consumers, and create jobs in the clean energy economy. Additionally, these reductions--the first of its kind in our country for carbon pollution from power plants--are vital to meeting the commitments the United States has made to lowering emissions. Our country is not alone in making these commitments. China and other nations are also doing so--as will be discussed and hopefully furthered at the climate negotiations taking place next week in Paris. Because pollution crosses borders, protecting air quality is a globally shared responsibility.

Let me also emphasize that EPA has the legal authority to set standards on carbon pollution. In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that the Clean Air Act authorizes the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from sources including power plants.

Despite criticism from the opposition, we have seen, since the enactment of the Clean Air Act 45 years ago, that economic growth and environmental protection are not mutually exclusive. According to the Department of Commerce, environmental laws including the Clean Air Act have made the U.S. the largest producer of environmental technologies in the world, supporting close to 1.7 million jobs and $44 billion in exports annually.

The Clean Power Plan will build on this progress and help accelerate the development of renewable energy, creating thousands of jobs in the clean energy sector.

The Energy Information Administration, EIA, finds that the Clean Power Plan will increase the use of renewable energy, leading to thousands of clean energy jobs across the country, including in my home State of Rhode Island.

The 2015 Rhode Island Clean Energy Jobs Report states that Rhode Island's clean energy economy currently supports nearly 10,000 jobs and suggests that the State is expected to add approximately 1,600 new clean energy jobs over the next year.

Renewables, like wind and solar, are already generating power reliably and cost-effectively across America. Wind power is already showing it can be integrated onto the grid at a large scale while ensuring reliability.

Wind power plays an important role in Clean Power Plan compliance, with wind electricity generation capacity more than tripling over 2013 levels by 2040, according to the EIA.

This is why in Rhode Island we are building the first offshore wind farm, which is projected to increase energy capacity for the residents of Block Island.

Our commitment to clean energy is not only cost-effective, but vital to supporting our Nation's health. Climate change is impacting air pollution, which can cause asthma attacks, cardiovascular disease, and premature death, and fostering extreme weather patterns such as heat and severe storms, droughts, wildfires, and flooding that can harm low-income communities disproportionately.

The Clean Power Plan makes America healthier by improving the well-being and productivity of our children, workforce, and seniors through such benefits as reducing asthma attacks in children, lowering the rate of hospital admissions, and reducing the number of missed school and work days.

Action is needed to protect not just our economy's growing renewable energy field, but also our public health. This is why I stand with my colleagues in supporting the Clean Power Plan.

We must make clean air a priority.

I urge my colleagues to support the Clean Air Act and vote ``no'' on both S.J. Res. 23 and S.J. Res 24.

Thank you.

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