AUSTIN – During a recent congressional hearing, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy was asked to justify her comments that the Clean Power Plan was “enormously beneficial” when it would only avert one one-hundredth of a degree of global warming and cost hundreds of billions of dollars to implement. To explore what benefits environmental regulations should accomplish to justify the cost, the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for the American Future will host the panel “Benefit versus Burden: Do the EPA’s Clean Power Plan Costs Exceed the Regulation’s Impact?” at the 14th Annual Policy Orientation for the Texas Legislature on Friday, January 8, 2016 at 9:30 am CST at the Hilton Austin Hotel in Salon J.
“Using the EPA’s own data, the Clean Power Plan is project to have only a 0.18 degree impact on worldwide temperatures by 2100,” said Robert Henneke, director of the Center for the American Future at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “It is undisputed that the Clean Power Plan will cost hundreds of billions of dollars to implement can cause significant increases in electricity rates – ERCOT predicts a minimum 16 percent increase in Texas because of the Clean Power Plan. As it is undisputed that access to reliable energy has greatly improved the quality of life worldwide, this regulation begs the question of what tangible benefit an environmental regulation should accomplish to justify the implementation cost."
Panelists include:
- Dr. Bryan Shaw, Ph.D., P.E., Chairman, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
- Theodore Hadzi-Antich, Senior Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation
- Cyrus Reed, Conservation Director, Lone Star Chapter Sierra Club
- The Honorable Robert Henneke, Director, Center for the American Future, Texas Public Policy Foundation (Moderator)
For over thirteen years, the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Policy Orientation has been one of the nation’s top policy conferences, selling out each year while bringing together lawmakers, policy experts, and engaged citizens from across the political spectrum to discuss critical issues facing the Lone Star State and America. This year’s program includes more than 35 panel discussions and debates on the major issues affecting Texas’ future.
Members of the public and media who wish to attend may register and view the agenda at: www.PolicyOrientation.com
Keynote and plenary sessions will be livestreamed at: txpo.li/TPPFlive
The Honorable Robert Henneke is director of the Center for the American Future at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.