EPA chief defends CO2 rulemaking

OREANDA-NEWS. July 10, 2015. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Gina McCarthy today defended her agency's proposed Clean Power Plan against Republican criticism of how the agency set the regulations.

At a hearing held by the House Science Committee, McCarthy downplayed what committee chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) characterized as a "power grab" by the agency in promulgating several environmental regulations, including the Clean Power Plan, without making comprehensive data and communications records throughout the rule-making process.

McCarthy said the agency has given the committee "roughly 1,500 pages of documents" and is making more documents available. "We continue to try to be as responsive as we can, recognizing our commitment to transparency and the important work of this committee," she said.

Smith said the rule "continues a pattern of obstruction that we have been seeing" from EPA "for a couple of years now," referring to the data used to underpin agency rules.

"We are again seeing that these regulations are all pain and no gain without see how they are particularly beneficial," he said.

Republicans said they were concerned the Clean Power Plan would result in electricity rate increases for low-income households, while giving developing countries like China and India a competitive advantage.

McCarthy said the rule's impact would be minimal, and would lead to a reduction in utility bills in 2030, while also acting as a catalyst for UN climate negotiations late this year in Paris.

"The value of this rule is measured in showing how strong domestic action can trigger international climate action," McCarthy said.

The Clean Power Plan would require states to meet a CO2 emissions rate target by 2030. EPA plans to finalize the rules this summer. The agency says states can use a wide range of measures for compliance, including emissions trading.

Committee member representative Paul Tonko (D-New York) promoted the use of trading for compliance, citing the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) as a model for other states. McCarthy, who helped implement RGGI in Massachusetts and Connecticut, echoed the support for state trading.

"RGGI has been enormously successful." McCarthy said. "They recognize if you challenge utilities to be more efficient and provide opportunities for efficiency to renewables to be supported, then you get the environmental benefits you are looking for, while really sparking the economy."