WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) released the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the case Michigan v. EPA:
“While this ruling is a welcome rebuke of the Obama administration’s runaway EPA, it’s too late for many Americans who work at coal plants that have already been negatively impacted by this rule.
“Going forward, this ruling should serve as a check against future actions by this administration to roll out new costly red tape—including the so-called ‘clean power plan.’ Republicans will continue to use every tool we have to stop regulations that will crush jobs, harm public health, and increase energy prices for American families.”
Background:
The Supreme Court ruled today in Michigan v. EPA that the EPA failed to take into account the compliance costs and negative health impacts of its Mercury and Air Toxic Standards (MATS) rule, also known as Utility MACT, that went into effect in May.
The Supreme Court’s majority opinion stated, “One would not say that is even rational, never mind ‘appropriate,’ to impose billions of dollars in economic costs in return for a few dollars in health or environmental benefits.” The court’s opinion went on to say that “EPA’s interpretation precludes the Agency from considering any type of cost-including, for instance, harms that regulation might do to human health or the environment.”
On June 18th, 2012, Senate doctors led by Senator Barrasso sent a letter to President Obama highlighting that the EPA had not looked at the negative health impacts that unemployment causes as a result of EPA’s rules on coal, such as Utility MACT. The letter states:
“The EPA should immediately stop pushing expensive regulations that put Americans out of work and into the doctor’s office. We respectfully ask that your agencies adequately examine the negative health implications of unemployment into the cost/benefit analysis of the numerous regulations that are stifling job growth, before making health benefit claims to Congress and the public.”
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http://www.barrasso.senate.gov