The White House announcement that it will be rolling back the Clean Power Plan of the Obama administration brought a round of applause from Oklahoma U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe.
“I applaud President Trump and Acting Administrator Wheeler for delivering on their promise to repeal President Obama’s illegal clean power plan,” said the Senator in a statement. “Their replacement rule respects the Clean Air Act’s spirit of cooperative federalism, giving state governments flexibility to develop their own plans without dictating energy policy, imposing costs on consumers or increasing energy prices.”
The Senator, a critic of the Obama administration during its 8-year reign, said history has shown that light touch regulation combined with technological and economic advancement produce better results for innovation and growth.
“I maintain that the best course of action remains to completely overturn the endangerment finding so that there is neither statutory nor legal need for any greenhouse gas regulations. I will continue to work with President Trump and Acting Administrator Wheeler toward this goal,” added the Senator who led efforts in the Senate against the Clean Power Plan.
It was in January when Sen. Inhofe sent a letter to then EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt urging him to repeal the plan.
“When the Supreme Court placed an unprecedented stay on the CPP in 2016, it was apparent that the rule would not withstand the many legal challenges it faced,” wrote the Senator. “The CPP is clearly unlawful because it exceeds the statutory authority conferred to the EPA by regulating beyond the plain language of its statutory authority and making policy decisions that have been reserved by Congress.”
Inhofe had argued along with the National Economic Research Associates that the plan would have caused double-digit electricity prices in Oklahoma and 39 other states. He contended the rule would have disproportionally been felt by low and middle income Americans.