Now we need Congress to act

The Environmental Protection Agency has just unveiled a new set of emissions standards to be implemented on power plants by 2011. These standards specifically apply to the reduction of mercury being emitted from oil and coal plants. While the agency’s action may result in fewer emissions, it will undoubtedly increase electricity prices for consumers.

Rulings such as these underscore the need for the Congress to pass comprehensive climate legislation. It is both unrealistic and unnecessary to have the EPA framing the infrastructure of this country’s climate policy.

Tomorrow on Capitol Hill, hearings on the Kerry-Boxer bill, or the “Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act,” will begin. While this legislation in its current form needs to be reworked, ACCCE recognizes the effort of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to introduce this bill, and we will continue to work with it to improve this legislation.

As we have continued to maintain for some time, ACCCE supports legislation that will keep energy costs affordable, bring new technologies to the marketplace and rely on abundant, domestic fuel sources, such as coal, to meet our growing energy demands.

Because the EPA serves to fill one of the most important functions pertaining to this country’s energy make-up, it is the responsibility of both private industry and those in the legislative branch to alleviate burdensome oversight requirements. This can and will be done with an all-inclusive, fair energy bill.

You can read about the requirements here in the Los Angeles Times.