Despite the fact that this Congress is now officially a “lame-duck” Congress following the November 4 elections, both the Senate and the House of Representatives passed bills this week aimed at changing environmental law and regulations.
On Wednesday, November 19, 2014, Democrats in the Senate introduced the “American Opportunity Carbon Fee Act,” which would impose a fee per ton on carbon pollution emitted by industry sources. The proposed fee is $42 per ton beginning in 2015. The fee would increase annually by 2 percent for inflation.
The Act’s sponsors, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, and Senator Brian Schatz, D-HI, claim the Act would generate almost $2 trillion in fees over a ten-year period. The Act would apply to fossil fuel and non-fossil fuel sources.
The sponsoring Senators claim the Act would “put a price tag on carbon pollution.” Funds generated from the fees would be used for those impacted by climate change.
Opponents claim the Act would cause an increase in energy costs, which would be passed on to American consumers.
In the House of Representatives, Republicans passed three bills which are aimed at restricting the EPA. One bill bars the EPA from implementing rules based on science unless the science is “transparent or reproducible.” This bill, called the “Secret Science Reform Act,” was drafted by Representative David Schweikert, R-AZ. It would require the EPA to make public all scientific studies underlying proposed rules. The Act places limits on the EPA’s use of medical research which sometimes cannot be publicly disclosed.
A related anti-EPA bill passed by the House on Tuesday forbids scientific experts from advising the EPA on their own research. Although the bill, H.R. 1422, was framed as a bill for “transparency,” it would restrict the EPA’s Scientific Advisory Board.
The third bill, sponsored by House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-LA, is known as the “Promoting New Manufacturing Act.” The House supporters of this Act claim it would promote “a new manufacturing renaissance” by weakening protections under the Clean Air Act and advancing the timely issuance of air permits.
Opponents claim the Secret Science Reform Act and the other House bills are merely an attempt to control or limit the EPA. President Obama has threatened to veto all three of the House bills. The Senate’s proposed “American Opportunity Carbon Fee Act” is not expected to be passed by Republicans in the House of Representatives.
For future updates, stay tuned to this blog, or contact Toni Ellington at (504) 599-8500.
No comments:
Post a Comment