WASHINGTON, D.C. – In advance of President Obama’s announcement on Tuesday that his administration will take unilateral measures regarding power plant emissions, Sen. Orrin Hatch, maintaining the measureswould lead to increased energy costs and fewer jobs across America, issued the following statement:
Let’s be clear about the consequences of what the president wants to do: Higher energy costs passed on to consumers across Utah and the country and fewer jobs at a time when three-quarters of the American people are living paycheck-to-paycheck. That he can’t get a national energy tax through Congress shows how unpopular his plan is. Just this morning, it was reported that one of the president’s advisors is urging the president to wage a ‘war on coal.’ Energy is the fuel of our nation’s economic growth and after one of the longest periods of economic stagnation in modern history, it’s simply baffling that President Obama is proceeding with this unilateral energy policy that will hurt Americans struggling to pay their bills and get a job.
Following the announcement, Rep. Chris Stewart, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Environment, released the following statement:
The president’s announcement today makes clear that with his final election behind him, he is free to abandon his campaign promise to the nation of an ‘all of the above’ approach to meet our energy needs. And to what end? Even the president’s own EPA is on record stating that any U.S. carbon regulations will have little to no global effect due to accelerating growth of emissions overseas. Economists predict that these regulations will increase domestic energy prices and encourage manufactures to relocate overseas. This is unacceptable. Our nation is blessed with an abundance of affordable and reliable energy, yet the president has chosen to abandon these resources to appease a small group of radical environmentalists with American families footing the bill.
The president ran on a platform of protecting the middle class and working families. The proposed regulations are going to do the exact opposite—increasing costs and hurting the families who can least afford it.
Submitted by: The Offices of Utah Republicans Sen. Orrin Hatch and Rep. Chris Stewart
Resources
YouTube of Obama’s speech June 25, 2013
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Oh, did Hatch just wake up from his 2 week nap?? If he wants to speak out about something he had a great chance yesterday and last week to rally against the current immigration bill!! Instead he is going to use his almost 40 years of seniority to help pass a very dangerous bill. This issue is a great one to fight Obama on but c’mon Hatch, this is the first time you’ve been in the news since last election. If he was up for election this year the Utah caucus’s wouldn’t even let him make it to the primaries. He claimed he would use his seniority to take charge this term, but I don’t think he has it in him.
So, it’s okay for industry to continue to dump pollution into the air, without any restrictions? At the moment, the everyday, average guy is forced to pay more for a car that has reduced emissions. The auto industry is making $(profit) off of the regulations, which have been in effect for many years. Now Orrin Hatch is complaining that this will hurt the common man… He receives contributions from lobbyists who, strangely, aren’t categorized as any specific industry. It would be interesting to see how many of these lobbyists are representing the energy/industrial industries.
—I do believe that we should all do our part – and that big industry should be forced to reduce their emissions. They also shouldn’t be allowed to profit off of the regulations – they already receive tax credits and pay substantially less taxes as compared to the everyday, average guy. Enough is enough – they pollute our air, water, and the earth. We are sicker as a population because of all of the stuff they dump in our air, on our land, in our streams.