Oklahoma U.S. Sen. James Lankford and West Virginia Rep. Evan Jenkins have introduced what they call the Transparency and Honesty in Energy Regulations Act. It is a bill to prohibit the federal government from using the flawed social cost of carbon, social cost of methane, social cost of nitrous oxide or the social cost of any other greenhouse gas metrics in the rulemaking process.
The two Republicans say the social cost of greenhouse gas metrics are “theoretical measurements to try to put a price or economic impact on emissions.”
But Sen. Lankford and Rep. Jenkins say they are also “unscientific and can result in more burdensome regulations.” Their act would stop the EPA, the Energy Department, Interior and Council on Environmental Quality from using the social cost of carbon, methane and nitrous oxide as rationales for their regulations.
“Many recent significant regulatory actions regarding energy and environmental policy have been based in part on a social cost calculation that lacked transparency and oversight,” said Lankford. “This act is needed to ensure that strong regulatory analysis and fact-based scientific standards are applied to how energy regulations are created.”
He said it’s also need to make sure future Presidents don’t reach “beyond their authority no matter who controls the White House.”