Senator Blunt Co-Sponsors Amendment Allowing States To Opt-Out Of Costly, Burdensome EPA Regulations

Press Release

U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) co-sponsored an amendment to the FY2016 budget today that would establish a reserve fund for legislation to allow any state to opt-out of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) greenhouse gas regulations under the Clean Power Plan (CPP) if the state determines the regulations would increase retail electricity prices, threaten electricity reliability, or have a negative impact on the state's economy.

The amendment, which was introduced by U.S. Senator Rob Portman (Ohio), is also co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Tom Cotton (Ark.) and Orrin Hatch (Utah).

"President Obama previously acknowledged that his energy policies would cause costs to "necessarily skyrocket.' Unfortunately, bad energy policies hurt the poorest and youngest Americans the hardest," said Blunt. "This is a reasonable amendment to allow Missouri and other states to protect workers and families from burdensome federal energy regulations."

Blunt has been a vocal opponent to the Obama Administration's costly energy policies and over-regulation. A number of independent assessments of the CPP proposal have warned that the president's proposal could have severe economic consequences on many states.

Source