WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) today released the following statement on the Obama administration’s announcement of sweeping and burdensome Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations on carbon dioxide emissions, included as part of the president’s “Clean Power Plan”:

“Simply put, the Environmental Protection Agency’s final Clean Power Plan rule released today is worse than what President Obama initially proposed. This rule will drive up energy costs for families, farmers, and small businesses in Kansas and across the country at a time when the economy is still struggling to find its footing.

“While I support the development of affordable and reliable renewable energy, almost two-thirds of the electricity generated in Kansas comes from coal-fired power plants, and this rule potentially creates significant energy reliability concerns. By forcing states to transition to more expensive and less reliable forms of energy, this administration and the unelected regulators at EPA continue to make doing business in America less attractive.

“The EPA itself has stated that any unilateral action by the United States to reduce carbon emissions will have no impact on lowering global temperatures. As long as large developing countries like China, India, Russia and Brazil continue increasing their carbon emissions on an annual basis, which they are, anything we do will be inconsequential. This rule amounts to all pain and no gain. I am committed to working with my colleagues in the Senate to defend the ratepayers who are harmed the most by this federal overreach.”

The EPA’s final rules are part of the administration’s attempts to go around Congress and enact the president’s “Clean Power Plan” through executive order and executive action under the Clean Air Act.

Estimates by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have found that the original proposed regulations will cost 224,000 U.S. jobs on average every year through 2030. These regulations would also increase electricity costs by $289 billion and lower households’ disposable income by $586 billion through that same period.

In May, Roberts cosponsored the Affordable Reliable Energy Now Act (ARENA) that prevents states from being forced to adopt EPA’s plans under the Clean Air Act that would negatively affect economic growth, competitiveness and jobs in the state; negatively affect the reliability of the state’s electricity system; or negatively affect the state’s electricity ratepayers, including low-income ratepayers, by causing electricity rate increases. The bill would also prevent the EPA from withholding highway funds from any states for noncompliance with the Clean Power Plan.

Senator Roberts is an outspoken advocate for the elimination of ridiculous and burdensome regulations issued by the agenda-driven Obama Administration. Roberts is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry and is a senior member of the Senate Committee on Finance and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

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