U.S. Senate Throws Common Sense Out the Window on EPA Regulation
Vote to Overturn Costly Utility MACT Rule Fails by Five Votes
Today the U.S. Senate rejected S.J.Res.37, a resolution put forward by Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) to overturn the Environmental Protection Agency’s Utility MACT rule, on a 46-53 vote.
This controversial regulation promises to shut down coal-fired power plants across the country, raise electricity bills by an average of 12% nationwide, and destroy well over a million jobs in the coming years. Americans for Prosperity recently posted a state-by-state breakdown of the rule’s astronomical economic costs, showing that coal country will be hit especially hard.
The EPA claims the rule is necessary to protect public health and the environment, but an honest look at their own analysis shows that the direct benefits of reducing mercury are virtually zero. Cutting through all the double-counting of benefits and other gimmicks the EPA used to skew its data, the costs of imposing this rule outweigh its benefits by about 1,800 to 1.
“Today the U.S. Senate had an opportunity to stand up and say ‘Enough is Enough’ to out-of-control EPA bureaucrats, and stop them from regulating our economy to tears,” said Adam Berkland, federal affairs manager for AFP. “But apparently 53 Senators no longer believe that our regulations should have to pass a basic common sense test.”
Five Democrats (Senators Landrieu, Manchin, Nelson, Warner, and Webb) joined 41 Republicans in standing up to the EPA and voting to overturn this rule. On the other hand, five Republicans (Senators Ayotte, Alexander, Brown (MA), Collins, and Snowe) played a part in tanking this important effort, casting the five “NO” votes that ultimately killed the resolution.
Americans for Prosperity has been working tirelessly in recent weeks to get the word out about this important vote, and will include a “YES” vote on S.J.Res.37 on its congressional scorecard.
“At least these Senators are now on the record for allowing this senseless regulation to stand. They’re going to hear about it from their constituents when everyone’s electricity bills skyrocket as a result,” added Berkland.
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