Inhofe Singles out EPA’s Clean Power Plan in Senate Committee Hearing

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Oklahoma U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe used a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing Thursday to again condemn the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, the one put on hold by the U.S. Supreme Court.

“The stakes are high when it comes to the Power Plan,” said the Senator in his opening comment as Chairman of the Committee. “An agency charged with protecting human health and the environment is attempting to restructure the entire energy system on imagined legal authority in a manner that will cost billions of dollars, is based on unreasonable assumptions, will increase energy bills, puts grid reliability at risk and have no impact on the environment.”

He went on to state the Clean Air Act nor the regulatory system was meant to operate this way and President Obama knows it.

“Without the requisite support of Congress, the president and his EPA have tasked unelected bureaucrats who are insulated from the consequences of progressing an all pain, no gain regulation and their legal allies to craft creative arguments to support it,” said the senator. “Republicans are not the only ones who rightfully question the agency’s persistent attempts to blur legal lines. Democrats, leading environmentalist, governors, well-respected economists, Attorneys General, state air officials, economic directors, utilities, manufacturers, American businesses, unions and many, many more have all joined the charge.”

Among those who testified and answered questions from Sen. Inhofe was Missouri State Rep. Jack Bondon, who opposes the Clean Power Plan, contending many middle income and low income Missourians will suffer from higher utility costs.

Listen to his opening state.