WASHINGTON — Senator John Hoeven today the following statement Thursday after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed new carbon emissions regulations on coal and gas-fired power plants.
“Despite being blocked by the Supreme Court, the Biden administration is once again advancing costly and overreaching rules meant to shutter baseload power plants, including coal-fired plants in North Dakota, putting the reliability and affordability of the electric grid at risk,” said Hoeven.
“That’s exactly the opposite of what our nation needs, as homes and businesses face increased energy prices across the board and historic levels of inflation. Instead, President Biden should work with us to unlock America’s energy potential and take the handcuffs off U.S. energy production. That means providing regulatory relief and advancing the commercial viability of new technologies like CCUS to produce more energy from all sources, including coal, oil and gas, while improving environmental stewardship.”
Last year, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its opinion in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, ruling that the EPA acted outside its congressionally granted authority by issuing burdensome, sector-wide regulations that force states to change their fuel sources for electricity generation. The decision follows an amicus brief that Hoeven and his colleagues filed with SCOTUS in December 2021 supporting the petitioners in challenging the EPA’s efforts to issue overreaching environmental rules, such as the Obama-era Clean Power Plan (CPP). North Dakota was one of 20 states that petitioned along with West Virginia.