U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) introduced two amendments on Wednesday that he said are critical to protecting workers and families in his home state of Missouri, as well as across the nation.
The Community Affordability Amendment and the U.S.-China Greenhouse Gas Agreement Amendment were attached to a bill approving construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, which he co-sponsored earlier.
“I arrived in the Senate when the Keystone XL Pipeline application was only two years old,” Blunt said. “Now, six years later, we’re continuing to miss an opportunity.”
The Community Affordability Amendment requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to work with the National Academy of Public Administration to determine costs associated with executing major EPA regulations. “This is a critical issue related to our energy future,” Blunt said. “We have to have a study to look at the impact of EPA regulations on communities.”
The U.S.-China Greenhouse Gas Agreement Amendment said the U.S. should not sign bilateral or any other international agreements on greenhouse gases that will cause serious harm to the U.S. economy. It also said the U.S. should not agree to any bilateral or other international agreement imposing unequal greenhouse gas commitments for the U.S. and other countries.
“The agreement the president unilaterally negotiated with China and announced last November is a bad deal for workers and is a bad deal for families,” Blunt said. “The agreement requires the United States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 26-28 percent below the 2005 levels by 2025. It allows the Chinese to increase their emissions until 2030. What this does is drive jobs and opportunity to China, while we lose the jobs we otherwise would have had. I look forward to having a vote on these amendments soon,” Blunt said.