Congressman Alex X. Mooney (WV-02) Submits Statement Opposing Clean Power Plan

Statement

Congressman Alex Mooney (WV-02) submitted the following testimony at the Environmental Protection Agency public hearing in Charleston regarding the Clean Power Plan:

"I am pleased to submit my testimony to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding my support for the agency's proposed repeal of the so-called Clean Power Plan rule. When the EPA finalized these rules in 2015, they did irreparable damage to West Virginia's economy. Due to the pending plan, power plants that were once the economic driver of communities across our great state have been shuttered. Proposed plants that were to expand the energy infrastructure throughout the Appalachian Region never came to fruition.

For nearly three years, West Virginian workers have had a cloud of uncertainty hanging over their heads due to the pending implementation of the Obama Administration's Clean Power Plan. Fortunately, our government's system of checks and balances prevented the plan from reaching fruition.

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay on the enforcement of this proposed regulation in 2016 after 27 states (including West Virginia), 24 trade associations, 37 rural electric co-ops and three labor unions sued the EPA. Their lawsuit emphasized a range of legal and technical concerns, while also demonstrating the regulation went further than the law allowed. This is yet again another Obama era overreach that put the American economy at a disadvantage and destroyed jobs.

I want to take this opportunity to thank EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and the EPA Regional Offices for conducting these public hearings. This is the proper procedure to review this regulation and, ultimately, to repeal it. I also want to thank President Trump for signing the Energy Independence Executive Order back in March, triggering the review of the Clean Power Plan and leading to this much-needed and transparent public hearing process. This is how government should operate and I commend the EPA for coming to my Congressional District to hear what West Virginians have to say about this crippling regulation.

Former President Obama's plan is flawed and the regulation has done harm to the American economy and to the American worker. It is time to rid our economy of this uncertainty and pursue an energy policy that is pro-worker, allows the United States to be a leader in energy production and unlocks American ingenuity."

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