Snowe Statement on Senate Consideration of Murkowski Resolution

Statement

U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) released the following statement today announcing her intent to vote in support of the Murkowski resolution:

"As one who authored the landmark 2007 Fuel Efficiency Standards for Vehicles with Senator Feinstein -- which has resulted in the most significant carbon reductions Congress has ever enacted and critical incentives for energy efficiency improvements -- I continue to believe that the science demonstrates that carbon emissions are a human endangerment. My vote today was based solely on the reality that the Murkowski amendment was our only opportunity to prevent the EPA from issuing a set of blanket regulations which could produce unforeseen, damaging consequences for more than 1,600 businesses and industries throughout the country -- including more than 30 facilities in Maine representing more than 8,500 jobs -- during these already challenging economic times. Rather, it is Congress -- and not unelected bureaucrats -- that should be responsible for developing environmental policies that integrate our nation's economic well-being as an urgent priority along with the reduction of carbon emissions, and I do not accept that these are mutually exclusive goals.

"Moreover, this expansive rulemaking is short of details and only adds to the uncertainty in our economy at this time. Maine's pulp and paper mills and other major employers should be provided with incentives to move forward with transformational energy technology, not encumbered with one-size-fits-all federal mandates. In addition, I am deeply concerned that for the very first time, EPA has taken the unprecedented move of treating biomass emissions from sustainably harvested Maine woods like any other fossil fuel, exacerbating the effect on the state of Maine.

"Having cosponsored legislation that incorporates economic costs into the reduction of carbon emissions, I strongly believe we should provide the certainty and price signals critical for private enterprise to invest in innovative energy technologies and benefit from new economic opportunities in order for America to remain on the cutting edge so that China does not surpass us -- all of which will also help secure our environmental future by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. I will continue to work with my congressional colleagues to achieve our shared goals of fostering a healthy economy while moving toward a clean-energy future by replacing EPA regulations with a system that protects Maine employers and reduces greenhouse gases by the level that science dictates."

Source