The Environmental Protection Agency held public sessions on its regulations for carbon emissions for new coal-fired plants and not one session was scheduled in the top 10 coal producing states, including Wyoming.
On Sept. 20, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed what U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis called severe regulations on carbon emissions from new coal-fired power plants.
Lummis joined several House of Representative colleagues in introducing the Ensure Reliable and Affordable Energy Act.
The bill would require that 80 percent of non U.S. global carbon emissions be regulated before carbon emissions regulations impacting fossil fuel power plants in the United States are enacted, according to a press release from Lummis’ office.
Lummis said the EPA regulation is a “death nail” for coal facilities and hurts everyday consumers.
“This rule has a direct impact on Saratoga,” Lummis said. The regulation will cause an increase in electricity and heating homes ,and is devastating to everyday Americans, according to Lummis.
“This over-reaching regulation would prohibit any new coal-fired energy source in this country, Lummis said. The regulation will destroy valuable American jobs, especially in Wyoming, she said.
On Oct. 27, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for 21st Century Energy distributed a list of proposed listening sessions across the United States for comments on the EPA’s new regulations to Chambers offices across the nation. This list was forwarded to Chamber members in the Platte Valley last Wednesday.
“EPA should be talking to the people who have the most to lose,” said Matt Letourneau, spokesperson for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is calling for transparency from the EPA, Letourneau said.
In the Oct. 27 letter to the Saratoga-Platte Valley Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce asked for help in requesting a hearing in Wyoming.
“EPA’s new regulations have the potential to be economically devastating, and will be most harmful to states and regions most dependent on coal for electricity. We need your help to limit the harm from these rules and ensure Wyoming continues to have reliable and affordable electricity,” the letter said.
Eleven public listening sessions have been scheduled to solicit public input on how it should craft the rules. The listening sessions have been scheduled and taken place in Atlanta, Ga., Chicago, Denver, New York City, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Boston, Dallas, Lenexa, Kan., Philadelphia and Seattle.
According to research by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, none of the cities slated for the listening sessions are in Wyoming, North Dakota, Utah, New Mexico, Nebraska, Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. the top 10 coal-producing states.
On Nov. 7, Energy Institute’s President and CEO Karen Harbert asked the EPA to ensure that any new rules are cost effective, attainable and don’t harm the American economy.
The Energy Institute sent a letter to Gina McCarthy, the administrator of the EPA which said the “EPA has chosen to ignore each one of the ten states that rely the most on coal for electricity.”
that rely the most on coal for electricity.”
Harbert’s testimony at the listening session in Washington D.C. said, “If EPA continues to insist on stretching its Clean Air Act authority, then the agency should work to ensure that this regulation is reasonable and technologically achievable on a commercial scale.”
On a personal level, Carbon Power and Light has developed talking points and a sample letter for residential member-owners to write to the EPA.
According to Carbon Power and Light, in 2012, 70 percent of the co-op generated kilowatt hours came from coal. Nearly 70 percent of the co-op owned coal generation was built from 1973 to 1987 during the Oil Embargo and Fuel Use Act years, when Congress banned the use of natural gas for electricity.
To obtain more information, contact Carbon Power and Light at 307-326-5206. Chamber members can contact the Saratoga-Platte Valley Chamber of Commerce at 307-326-8855.
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