Inhofe: Obama EPA’s Transport Rule Latest Impediment to Job Growth

Link to Press Release Washington, D.C.-Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, commented today on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) release of its final Transport Rule.

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"EPA's finalized Transport Rule, announced today, is the latest major impediment to economic growth put forth by this Administration," Senator Inhofe said. "This rule along with 'Utility MACT' could force the retirement of 30 to 100 gigawatts of coal-fired power plants, raise the price of electricity by as much as 23 percent, and cause 1.4 million job losses by 2020. "True environmental progress will not come from these costly, heavy-handed regulations that harm the very people EPA claims to protect; real progress on clean air is best achieved through common sense multi-pollutant legislation that streamlines the Clean Air Act's many redundant and overlapping mandates. This is something that I have and will continue to support. "The bottom line is that reducing emissions does not have to be this expensive - the Obama EPA just wants it to be. On both sides of the aisle we support efforts to reduce real pollution, but we should be doing it in a way that protects workers from losing their jobs, families from skyrocketing electricity prices, and businesses from unachievable requirements. "It is little consolation that Oklahoma is not included in today's final rule. By separate notice, EPA has proposed to include the state in the program in the near future. As Ranking Member of the EPW Committee I will be keeping a close eye on this process."

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