Link to Press Release
Washington D.C. - Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, said that FirstEnergy's announcement today that it will shut down six power plants in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland due to EPA's Utility MACT rule is a prime example that while President Obama is talking the talk on an 'all-of-the-above' energy approach, his administration is aggressively working to shut down American oil, gas, and coal development.
"Today, hundreds of Americans learned that they will be losing their good-paying jobs because of the Obama EPA's destructive regulatory agenda," Senator Inhofe said. "Due to EPA's forthcoming Utility MACT rule, FirstEnergy will be closing six power plants, which will put 529 Americans out of work in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland - states that have already been hit hard by the recession.
"Meanwhile, President Obama has been taking his State of the Union campaign speech on the road in an effort to distance himself from his cap-and-trade agenda, which no longer sells. Knowing that Americans want the good-paying jobs, the increased energy security, and the stronger economy that domestic fossil fuel development brings, the President has begun peddling an 'all-of-the-above' energy approach - but today's announcement tells us the real story. President Obama's regulatory agenda is the most harmful, aggressive and expensive in history and it is aimed squarely at shutting down the development of oil, gas and coal. That's why the EPA's Utility MACT rule is unnecessarily burdensome and costly - it's intended to undermine the viability of coal, one of our country's most abundant and reliable energy sources.
"The 529 jobs lost today are just the tip of the iceberg, as economic analyses predict up to 1.4 million American jobs will be lost by EPA's rules for power plants. Utility MACT will cost $11 billion, which contrasts sharply with the mere $6 million in direct benefits EPA projects will be gained from the rule's implementation.
"In the weeks ahead I will be introducing a resolution under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) that will give Congress the ability to stop EPA from destroying jobs with Utility MACT. Several Democratic members of the Senate have said that they would like to rein in EPA - with my CRA, they will have the chance to do so."
