WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts today said Obama administration regulations and polices will add to energy costs for consumers at the worst possible time, when gas prices are already rapidly rising and hurting America’s economic recovery.

“Even as the price of crude continues to climb above $100, this administration continues to promote domestic energy policies that are making it more expensive for Americans to fuel their cars, heat their homes, and power their businesses,” Roberts said. “If fact, just this weekend at a town hall meeting in Johnson County, I heard complaints from my constituents about the rising gas prices and our dependence on foreign oil and the need to develop our own domestic resources. But this is extremely difficult under the Obama Administration’s policies.”

Roberts made these remarks during the second of four floor speeches he is giving to highlight federal environmental, health and financial regulations that damage different sectors of the economy. Roberts continues his efforts to ensure the Obama Administration carries out the president’s executive order to review regulations harmful to the economy.

At issue are media reports that many of the agencies claim they are not subject to the president’s regulatory review because they already meet all of the commitments in the executive order.

Last month, Senator Roberts introduced a bill called the “Regulatory Responsibility for our Economy Act,” or S. 358, to strengthen and codify the president’s Executive Order from January 18, 2011, to ensure the president’s order is carried out to review, modify, streamline, expand, or repeal those significant regulatory actions, that are duplicative, unnecessary, burdensome, or would have significant economic impacts on Americans. The legislation has 30 cosponsors.

The following is the full text of his prepared remarks:

“Last week, I came to the floor and highlighted a multitude of new, overly burdensome, and in many situations, absurd, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations that will have a significantly negative effect on the ability of our farmers and ranchers to produce the food crops necessary to compete in a global market,” Roberts said. “Unfortunately, as we all know, the EPA’s reach goes well beyond the agricultural industry. Its regulations are moving to make the energy we rely on everyday more expensive to produce, and many times, without providing any appreciable benefits to the environment.”

“For example, EPA has proposed to amend the current national ambient air quality standards for ozone to a range of 60 to 70 parts per billion. A range so stringent, that recent analysis estimates that hundreds of thousands of jobs would be at risk because of cities’ and counties’ inability to meet these attainment levels.

“The EPA itself has estimated that this new regulation would cost between 19 and 90 billion dollars when fully implemented, while providing no rationale as to what new scientific data justifies updating a standard set as recently as 2008.

“This proposed regulation is in addition to the recently enacted greenhouse gas regulation requiring application of Best Available Control Technology for stationary sources of green house gas emissions.

“While this regulation currently only affects those stationary sources of energy emitting 75,000 or more tons of carbon per year and which are already subject to PSD permitting requirements for non-GHGS, future implementations of this rule could negatively impact millions of small businesses, farms, hospitals and community organizations with costs of over 75 billion dollars a year.

“According to the Affordable Power Alliance, a civil rights organization, by the year 2030, GHG regulations specifically targeting our domestic energy producers will result in the loss of 2.5 million jobs, and a reduction of household income of $1,200 a year.

“Keep in mind; these are impacts that will have the greatest negative impact on poor households who spend a greater percentage of their monthly income on utilities and groceries –necessities made more expensive to produce and purchase with rising energy prices.

“In the area of energy recycling, EPA officials are preparing to release a final ruling on regulation of coal combustion byproducts (CCB), which I hope avoids any classification of this product as a hazardous waste. CCBs are, of course, an unavoidable residual of burning coal to create energy, which I’d like to add, is the most cost effective form of energy available and is responsible for providing over 70% of the energy to my state’s taxpayers.

“Classification of this byproduct as a hazardous waste will restrict further beneficial reuse of CCBs in a multitude of industries; including agriculture, Portland cement, and home construction and without providing definitive benefits to the environment.

“In my home state, representatives speaking on behalf of a number of Kansas energy producers estimated costs to industry of over 300 billion dollars over the next five years to comply with the multitude of proposed EPA regulations dealing with air, water and CCB management.

“These are real numbers that will undoubtedly drive up the cost of energy that Kansans rely on to heat their homes and drive our nation’s agricultural industry.

“Unfortunately, the negative impacts resulting from the multitude of new, overly burdensome EPA regulations don’t just stop with agriculture and energy.

“Beyond affecting the way people power their homes and businesses, the administration has even moved to regulate what cars Americans can drive.

“This was made evident by the EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s decision last year to begin mandating greater fuel economy and emissions standards for all passenger vehicles and light-duty trucks.

“Recent analysis has estimated this new regulation will cost the already struggling automobile industry upwards of 10.8 billion dollars to comply, and consumers up to 985 dollars per vehicle in higher purchase prices.

“Now while EPA has garnered much of the attention in my state for its efforts to make energy more expensive; from a national perspective, the Department of Interior shares similar blame for pursuing policies that not only make energy more expensive, but also makes our country more reliant on foreign, and often times unfriendly, sources of energy.

“For example, under the current administration, Interior has cancelled 77 oil development leases in Utah that were located within a larger formation covering three states that the Bureau of Land Management has estimated contains around 800 billion barrels of oil – more than three times the proven reserves in Saudi Arabia.

“This, of course, is in addition to the Gulf of Mexico deep water drilling moratorium imposed last summer which has had a lasting negative effect on Gulf Coast economies.

“Beyond regulatory burdens, it’s also essential we focus on removing redundant programs within the various federal agencies.

“Last month, the Government Accountability Office released a report highlighting hundreds of duplicative programs currently on the books that cost American taxpayers billions of dollars every year. While separate from regulatory oversight, this study further amplifies the importance that we take a serious look at our federal agencies and put in place appropriate oversight, review, and revocation if needed.

“Mr. President, it is for these reasons I believe congress must move forward with solutions that removes overly burdensome regulations and creates an environment that doesn’t hinder energy production and use of those resources that make the most economic sense.”

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