AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) filed a comment with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on its proposed Federal Plan to implement emission guidelines for power plants under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act, known as the Clean Power Plan (CPP), which was finalized August 3, 2015 and applies to affected power plants that began construction on or before January 8, 2014. The Federal Plan would be imposed on states who fail to file an approvable state plan.
“EPA’s model Federal Plan for state compliance with the Clean Power Plan rule is racked with more lawlessness and constitutional violation than the rule itself,” said Kathleen Hartnett White, distinguished senior fellow-in-residence and director of the Armstrong Center for Energy and the Environment at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “EPA’s Federal Plan would commandeer states to create interstate cap and trade programs that have been rejected by the U.S. Congress and prohibited by the Constitution unless approved by Congress. What EPA calls 'flexible carbon emission trading programs' are a one-size, top-down federal system to control the entire electric sector. The model Federal Plan reveals that the CPP is not merely another exorbitant EPA regulation. It’s an unprecedented power grab usurping the constitutionally protected authority of the states and the U.S. Congress.”
“The EPA proposes to force onto the states a ‘cap and trade’ scheme if they determine that the state has insufficiently responded to what many legal scholars have said is an illegal and unconstitutional,” said Doug Domenech, director of the Fueling Freedom Project. “It is no wonder that over 150 groups and organizations have filed in the courts to stop and stay this flawed rule.”
Under the EPA implementation plan, States must submit a plan by September 6, 2016. If the EPA deems the plan insufficient, a Federal plan will be imposed. EPA is not expected to finalize the Federal Plan until this summer.
Sixteen non-profit policy organizations joined TPPF’s comment:
- Mississippi Center for Public Policy, Jackson, Mississippi
- The Pelican Institute, New Orleans, Louisiana
- Rio Grande Foundation, Albuquerque, New Mexico
- The Platte Institute for Economic Research, Omaha, Nebraska
- The John Locke Foundation, Raleigh, North Carolina
- The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions, Columbus, Ohio
- Federalism In Action, Charleston, South Carolina
- Great Plains Public Policy Institute, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
- Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- The John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy, Madison, Wisconsin
- Freedom Foundation of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Montana Policy Institute, Bozeman, Montana
- Competitive Enterprise Institute, Washington, DC
- Kansas Policy Institute, Wichita, Kansas
- Idaho Freedom Foundation, Idaho Falls, Idaho
- James Madison Institute, Tallahassee, Florida
To read the full comment, please visit: http://txpo.li/CPP-implementation-comment
To schedule an interview with Ms. White or Mr. Domenech, please contact Caroline Espinosa at [email protected] or 512-472-2700.
The Honorable Kathleen Hartnett White is a distinguished senior fellow-in-residence and the director of the Armstrong Center for Energy & the Environment. Former Chairman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (2001-2007).
The Honorable Doug Domenech is Director of the Fueling Freedom Project at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Domenech most recently served as Secretary of Natural Resources for the Commonwealth of Virginia and served as White House Liaison and deputy chief of staff at the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.