Home Jobs Employment Media Contacts Tours Video Gallery Photo Gallery Event Registration Calendar Generation Portfolio Buy power for resale
New bills support legislation over regulation of greenhouse gas
How carbon dioxide will be regulated and by whom is a crucial issue facing utilities today.
Basin Electric Power Cooperative - March 16, 2010
How carbon dioxide will be regulated and by whom is a crucial issue facing utilities today.
Since legislation has not been passed to set standards for carbon dioxide emissions, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has complicated the issue by moving forward to force regulation of it. To express their disapproval, a number of legislators have introduced bills to stop this kind of regulatory process, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), according to Curtis Jabs, Basin Electric senior legislative representative.
However, last week, two bills were introduced in the House and Senate to suspend the ability of the EPA to use the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gases from stationary sources for two years. The bills were introduced by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Reps. Nick Rahall (D-WV) and Rich Boucher (D-VA).
“The new Rockefeller-Rahall-Boucher initiative is different from previously introduced legislation in three key ways,” said Jabs. “It is limited to stationary sources, like power plants; it doesn’t implicate the EPA endangerment finding; and it’s designed as a pause and not a permanent halt.”
Jabs said using the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gases is like using a hammer to tighten a screw. “It may be possible to do, but the hammer is not the right tool for the job. Similarly, our elected officials should be deciding how we regulate greenhouse gas emissions, not the EPA.”
Headquarters
1717 East Interstate Avenue
Bismarck, ND 58503-0564 USA
Phone: 701.223.0441
