U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) on July 21 signed on as the lead original cosponsor of a Republican-led bill that would prohibit the federal government from using the social costs of any greenhouse gas (GHG) metrics in the rulemaking process.
The social cost of a specific GHG is a monetary estimate of the economic impacts associated with emitting an additional ton of that GHG in a given year. Conversely, this dollar figure represents the benefit of a one-ton reduction, according to the Congressional Research Service.
“In West Virginia, we know all too well the negative impact of burdensome regulations on our energy producers, including coal and natural gas,” Sen. Capito said. “With a troubling lack of transparency, the Biden administration seeks to apply an obscure figure, known as the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases, to justify these costly, job-killing regulations.”
Sen. Capito introduced the Transparency and Honesty in Energy Regulations Act of 2022, S. 4596, alongside bill sponsor U.S. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) and 11 other GOP original cosponsors, including U.S. Sens. Roy Blunt (R-MO), John Hoeven (R-ND), and Steve Daines (R-MT).
If enacted, S. 4596 would prohibit the U.S. Energy Secretary, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, the U.S. Transportation Secretary, the chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from considering, in taking any action on the social costs of carbon, methane, nitrous oxide, or any other GHG unless compliant with Office of Management and Budget guidance, according to the text of the bill.
“The Transparency and Honesty in Energy Regulations Act would prevent federal agencies from future overreach through opaque and overstated cost analyses,” said Sen. Capito. “This comes at a critical time as Americans are facing skyrocketing energy costs and runaway inflation and the Biden administration continues to stifle American energy production, citing these very same ‘social cost’ figures.
“I’m proud to join my colleagues in introducing this legislation that would enable West Virginia to remain a key energy-producing state in the years to come,” the senator added.
The bill has been referred for consideration to the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.