Republican Rep. Bob Good of Virginia on Friday called on the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to provide information on the actual costs of some of the Biden-Harris administration's most aggressive climate action plans.
Goode wrote a letter to CBO Administrator Philip Swagel requesting that the agency study the financial impacts of five federal actions, including Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emissions controls on power plants and heavy-duty vehicles. In the letter, Goode said the administration's “unprecedented overreach” in developing environmental regulations has harmed consumers, businesses, national security, and the economy overall, and that with information about the impacts of these policies, lawmakers can ensure that federal policymaking is less costly to taxpayers. (Related: EPA Administrator Says “There Will Be No EV Mandate” Months After Finalizing Rule to Create EV Mandate)
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“The Biden-Harris Administration's energy policies are having a devastating impact on consumers, businesses, the economy, and even our national security. Indeed, the economic impact on consumers is clear, with approximately 33% of Americans reporting they have had to forego medical or grocery payments in order to pay their energy bills,” Good wrote. “As members of Congress, it is our goal to ensure that the policies we enact as a federal government help reduce regulatory and financial burdens on taxpayers and reduce government intrusion into the private sector. Our concern is that the unprecedented excesses of the past four years will continue and the American people will continue to suffer.”
The EPA's power plant rules will likely force the early retirement of coal-fired plants and discourage investment in natural gas-fired plants, which could threaten grid reliability in the long term given the administration's simultaneous push for a series of policies that boost electricity demand, power grid experts previously explained to the Daily Caller News Foundation. Meanwhile, the EPA's stringent emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles have been condemned by industry officials as “completely unattainable” because they effectively mandate widespread adoption of unproven technology and pose risks to the supply chain.
In addition to these two rules, Goode also asked the CBO to analyze the EPA's proposed changes to the national air quality standards for particulate matter, which manufacturers and other critics have warned could effectively restrict industrial activity and erode the ability of states to develop their own economies. Goode also called for the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) reform These include the oil and gas leasing process that drives up development costs, and a Department of Energy (DOE) rule that bans the use of natural gas in new federal buildings constructed after 2030.
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