WASHINGTON, DC - The Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power, chaired by Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY), today approved legislation to protect hundreds of thousands of American jobs. H.R. 2250, the EPA Regulatory Relief Act, and H.R. 2681, the Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act, aim to fix EPA's boiler and cement rules to ensure that they set achievable standards and allow for more reasonable compliance timelines. The bipartisan bills passed the panel by voice vote and now move to the full Energy and Commerce Committee for consideration.
Today, leading power-generating company Luminant announced major layoffs as a result of the EPA's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule. The new rule places unfair and excessive burdens on Texas and other states, which will be forced to shoulder a disproportionate percentage of the country's emissions reductions. Luminant stated it will be forced to idle plants and reduce employees in order to comply with the new rule's stringent requirements and unreasonable compliance deadlines. Luminant has also voiced concerns that the rule will threaten electric reliability across the state of Texas.
WASHINGTON, DC - Republican Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent a letter today to key administration officials involved in the Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children (IWG). Congress established the IWG in 2009, instructing the panel to conduct a study and provide policy recommendations on food marketing standards. To date, the IWG has still not provided Congress with the requested report and instead has issued its own set of proposed industry principles.
WASHINGTON, DC - Energy and Commerce Committee leaders are seeking answers from Obama Administration officials on the recent government raid of an iconic U.S. guitar manufacturer, Tennessee's Gibson Guitar Corporation. Armed agents from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently conducted raids of Gibson's corporate headquarters and factories and seized raw materials, guitars, and computer files.
WASHINGTON, DC - Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Environment and the Economy Subcommittee Chairman John Shimkus (R-IL) today responded to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's final vote on the Atomic Safety Licensing Board's ruling that Department of Energy may not withdraw its application for the Yucca Mountain nuclear repository. The commission announced a tie vote of 2-2, therefore the ASLB's legal decision is not overturned and the DOE's motion to withdraw the application is not granted.
WASHINGTON, DC - House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns (R-FL) today called attention to the more than $10 billion in Department of Energy loan guarantees yet to be finalized by the September 30, 2011 stimulus deadline. Of the $18 billion in loan guarantees for which stimulus funding is available, the Obama administration has closed just over $8 billion since the stimulus was signed into law in February 2009.