The House of Representatives recently approved an amendment authored by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) to ensure that new power plants can use existing technology to meet EPA regulations.
Smith, the chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, amended the Electric Security and Affordability Act. The bill was designed to provide alternatives to EPA regulations placed on new power plants under the Clean Air Act.
“Economic growth depends on job creators, not federal regulators,” Smith said. “We need to increase access to affordable energy, not take energy options off the table. By requiring carbon capture and storage technology that doesn’t even exist, the EPA’s new power plant proposal effectively bans new coal power. There is no coal power plant anywhere in the world that can meet the EPA’s radical proposal.”
Smith was an original cosponsor of the Electric Security and Affordability Act.
“What’s equally troubling is that the EPA is planning to require this same, unproven technology for new natural gas power,” Smith said. “This amendment stops the EPA’s attack on natural gas. It prevents the EPA from using make-believe technologies when setting standards. Only in Washington can you call something ‘adequately demonstrated’ that doesn’t even exist. This amendment requires the EPA to rely on proven technologies when it sets rules for any new power plant.”