U.S. Chamber Testimony Urges Congress to Prevent EPA from Regulating Greenhouse Gases

Prevent EPA from Regulating Greenhouse Gases

WASHINGTON, D.C.—In testimony before the Senate today the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Vice President of Environment, Technology, and Regulatory Affairs William Kovacs issued a warning about the negative consequences of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act and urged Congress to prevent the EPA from moving forward with regulation.

"In order to avoid a cascade of unintended regulatory consequences, Congress must pass legislation preventing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from using the Clean Air Act (CAA) to address greenhouse gas emissions," Kovacs said in his testimony to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

"Congress has spent such a significant amount of time over the last several years debating climate policy that it certainly appears Congress believes it is the appropriate institution to make those policy determinations," he said. "As EPA's Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) demonstrates, there are simply too many complex policy considerations to be handled by an agency created by Executive Order several decades ago.

"Many of EPA's suggested regulatory options would reshape business models and long-term planning for manufacturers, parts suppliers, and vendors," Kovacs said. "EPA routinely suggests radical options such as engine redesign, fuel switching, new infrastructure, equipment and work practice standards, product redesign and aerodynamics, early retirement of equipment, and even sector-specific cap-and-trade programs.

"EPA makes these suggestions with little or no concern for the fate of businesses engaged in these particular sectors," he said. "For instance, EPA nonchalantly suggests replacing two-stroke gasoline engines in all handheld lawn care applications and recreational vehicles with four-stroke engines. If carried out, such a regulation would literally eliminate an entire line of business for lawn care equipment and recreational vehicle manufacturers."

The entire testimony can be viewed at: http://www.uschamber.com/issues/testimony/2008/080923_kovacs_cleanair.htm

The U.S. Chamber is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

www.uschamber.com

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