National Tribal Air Association

Republican leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee wrote a letter to the Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) asking that he withhold issuing EPA's proposal for regulating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from new and modified power plants, which is currently under review by OMB. In the letter, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Chairman Emeritus Joe Barton (R-TX) and Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whitfield (R-KY) say they are "concerned that EPA may intend to propose GHG standards for new and modified coal-fired power plants that could only be achieved through the use of costly technologies like [carbon capture and sequestration (CCS)]." Thus, they are concerned about the impact of the regulation on jobs and the economy. They also allege that requiring CCS "would be a back door cap-and-tax regime, circumventing the will of Congress and the American people." For further information go to http://Republicans.EnergyCommerce.house.gov/Media/file/Letters/112th/020112OMB.pdf