Letter of Support: Energy Freedom and Economic Prosperity Act, H.R. 259
AFP is proud to support Rep. Pompeo's Energy Freedom and Economic Prosperity Act (H.R. 259).
Energy & Environment Legislative Alerts
Stop Tanking America, Part 1: Time to Approve the Keystone Pipeline; Don’t Let Politics Get in the Way
With unemployment over 8 percent and gasoline near $4 per gallon, Americans could certainly use some relief right now. Unfortunately, President Obama is letting election-year politics get in the way of commonsense solutions like the Keystone Pipeline, which is hurting American families. Opening up the Keystone XL pipeline would create jobs, grow the economy, and provide relief at the gas pump. AFP is calling on President Obama to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline project today.
Obama EPA’s on Trial
Over the past two weeks a pair of judicial decisions has served to remind President Obama’s EPA that it is not the sole arbiter of U.S. industrial policy. In Sackett v. EPA, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected EPA’s attempt to hold an Idaho couple hostage while the agency considered whether and how hard EPA was going to fine them for their home construction project. In Mingo Logan v. EPA, the D.C. District Court reprimanded EPA for trying to effectively revoke a three-year-old Clean Water Act permit for the Spruce Mine in West Virginia, a move EPA never before attempted in the Act’s 40-year history. Although these two victories are key protections for property rights and permit finality, the biggest decisions are yet to come. EPA is currently on a regulatory adventure trying to manage the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, even though Congress never intended them to do so. Will the courts once again put the brakes on the rogue agency?
Kerpen on FoxNews: Electric rates will soar now that Obama’s EPA has crushed coal-fired power plants
That Obama’s EPA would release a rule to destroy coal-fired electricity while the president gives stump speeches about an “all of the above” energy policy is an insult to the American people.
This rule will effectively block any new coal-fired power plants from being built in America, and a second round of related rules – expected after the election, of course – will shut down existing coal-fired power plants.
Diverse Coalition to the U.S. Senate: Let Ethanol Subsidies Expire
Last week AFP joined a large coalition of organizations in sending a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), calling on the Senators to let taxpayer subsidies for ethanol expire as scheduled.
The text of the letter is available below.
__________________________
March 22nd, 2012
Dear Senate Leaders,
The undersigned diverse group of business, hunger and development, agricultural, environmental, budget, grassroots, and free market organizations urge you to reject any efforts to include continued or expanded federal support for corn ethanol in any legislation, even if the legislation is unlikely to pass. In particular, we oppose:
Any renewal of the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit or any other similar tax credit.
Altering the requirements of the Renewable Fuels Standard in a way that would open the definition of advanced biofuels to include corn-based fuels.
Another Regulatory Threat: Obama’s EPA to Expand Costly Gasoline Regulations
With gas prices reaching a national average of $3.83 per gallon, consumers everywhere continue to walk away with lighter wallets after filling up at the gas pump. Unfortunately, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) isn’t doing anything to ease the pain. Its latest round of regulations, the “Tier 3 Motor Vehicle Emission and Fuel Standards,” are set to be proposed in the Federal Register at the end of this year. Coming at President Obama’s request, Tier 3 rules will burden oil refineries with costly regulations that will do nothing to bring down gas prices.
According to AAA, the price of gasoline has risen by almost 56 cents per gallon since January, an unprecedented amount for this time of year. This higher price of gas is a tough blow to American families since the cost of gas often consumes as much as 10 percent of people’s budgets, with a higher percentage for those with modest and lower incomes.
