Sen. Voinovich Statement of Support for Sen. Murkowski's EPA Resolution

Statement

Today, U.S. Senator George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) and the Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee, released the following statement regarding his vote in support of Sen. Lisa Murkowski's (R-Alaska) bipartisan Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Endangerment Finding Disapproval Resolution:

"EPA's backdoor climate regulations will undercut efforts to create jobs and further erode America's global competitiveness. We should do everything we can to create jobs and grow our economy -- that includes stopping unelected bureaucrats from raising energy costs and using regulatory red tape to stifle our economy.

"Unfortunately, the Obama Administration and Senate Democrats today rejected an attempt to put our nation's environment and energy policy back into Congress' hands. In doing so, they have once again embraced higher taxes and more government intrusion into the lives of Americans.

"With the defeat of Sen. Murkowski's resolution, EPA now has a green light to regulate nearly every aspect of our lives. The new rules represent a massive expansion of government power, covering not only factories and power plants, but everything from apartment and office buildings to large houses, hospitals, schools and farms.

"To make matters worse, this will be all economic pain for no environmental gain. EPA's own data shows us that because China and India refuse to reduce their emissions, these regulations will have no impact on global temperatures. Climate change is an issue that must be addressed through targeted policies that incentivize multi-national collaboration on clean energy technologies. New taxes and mandates from Washington will do nothing but hurt Ohio's families and workers as they struggle to cope with an ailing economy.

"I applaud Sen. Murkowski for her leadership and thank her for working on behalf of Americans to stop this job-hindering regulation."

Sen. Voinovich is a co-sponsor of the Murkowski EPA Endangerment Finding Disapproval Resolution. He has been at the forefront of the debate on climate change and strategies for protecting our environment without harming our economy. His lead role in the climate change debate has helped save hundreds of thousands of Ohio jobs and protected Ohio seniors and working families from sky-rocketing natural gas, electricity and gasoline costs. To watch the senator's floor statement from today, please visit his YouTube page and website http://voinovich.senate.gov.

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