Cramer, Capito Send Letter to EPA in Support of Biden-Era Clean Power Plan 2.0 Repeal

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, joined EPW Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and fellow Republican committee members in sending a comment letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin in support of the agency's proposed repeal of the Clean Power Plan 2.0.

The senators expressed their support for the repeal. The Biden-era standards"misinterpreted the limited authority that Congress granted…in an attempt to expand the Agency's authority" without a congressional mandate to do so. The letter highlights the rule's impacts on grid reliability along with its mandate for unproven and cost-prohibitive technologies, and reiterates the Trump administration's accurate interpretation of the Clean Air Act requirements for issuing greenhouse gas emissions standards.

"Our nation currently needs more reliable and affordable electricity to power our economy, maintain our economic competitiveness, and win the Artificial Intelligence race," the senators wrote. "The current regulations - that your proposal will repeal - put us at risk by exacerbating electric reliability threats and spiking energy costs borne by American families and businesses."

"We appreciate the Agency taking seriously its legal responsibility to carefully consider the scope of its authority under Section 111 of the CAA," the senators continued. "Under previous administrations, the EPA attempted to sidestep the statutorily required determination of significant contribution prior to regulating greenhouse gases (GHG) from stationary source categories. EPA also attempted to use Section 111 to claim a broad grant of authority for the Agency to require emission reduction systems for GHGs from the power sector that were not adequately demonstrated and unachievable. Relying on exceptionally novel interpretations of Section 111 of the CAA, the EPA issued rules seeking to transform the power sector contrary to the Supreme Court's holding in West Virginia v. EPA."

Cramer has long been a vocal opponent of this heavy-handed regulation. Cramercalled on the Biden EPA to withdraw their proposal from consideration in August 2023. Cramer joined Administrator Zeldin to announce the EPA's rule to repeal the Clean Power Plan 2.0 and remaining portions of the original Obama-era Clean Power Plan. Following the EPA's repeal of the 2009 endangerment finding, Cramer applauded the decision.

Click here for the letter.