Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials Subcommittee Chair Buddy Carter (R-GA) released a statement following the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) announcement of several new rules impacting the power sector that will have devastating consequences for U.S. energy reliability.

“The EPA’s rush to dismantle our nation’s baseload electricity generation will harm people’s lives and well-being. These policies undermine American energy security by forcing states to fundamentally change how they generate electricity. At a time when more than half the nation is at elevated risk of forced blackouts, the administration’s unrelenting rush-to-green agenda is shutting down the types of generation needed to keep the lights on and raising costs across the board. We should be strengthening and expanding reliable power generation to build on America’s legacy of energy security and leadership, rather than dismantling it.”

BACKGROUND

• The Energy and Commerce Committee held hearings on June 6, 2023 and November 14, 2023 to discuss the harmful impact of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan 2.0 (CPP2.0) on America’s energy security and grid reliability.  
• On June 6, 2023, Chair Rodgers led a letter to EPA from all Energy and Commerce Republicans on the agency’s CPP2.0. 
• On July 31, 2023, Chair Rodgers and former Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials Chair Bill Johnson (R-OH) sent a letter calling on the EPA to extend the comment period for their new CPP2.0 proposal. 
• On November 7, 2023, Chair Rodgers, Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Chair Jeff Duncan (R-SC), and former Subcommittee Chair Johnson sent a letter to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on how new EPA regulations, including CPP2.0, would be detrimental to the U.S. electric grid. 
• On November 14, 2023, Chair Rodgers, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA), and former Subcommittee Chair Johnson sent a letter calling on EPA Administrator Michael Regan to withdraw the overreaching and unworkable CPP2.0 proposal.