U.S. Senator Susan Collins released this statement after voting against an amendment that would prohibit the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases.
"This is a difficult issue. I do not believe that the EPA should proceed to regulate greenhouse gas emissions without Congress laying out a specific regulatory framework such as Senator Cantwell and I proposed last year in a bill that would have reduced carbon pollution while protecting families from energy price increases. For this reason, I supported the Rockefeller amendment to prevent EPA from acting to regulate in this area for the next two years in order to allow time for Congress to act in a responsible way.
"The McConnell amendment, however, goes far beyond that temporary prohibition. It would amend the Clean Air Act to prohibit the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources forever-no matter what the health consequences are, no matter what current or future scientific research reveals, no matter what the environmental impact is. It also would prohibit new emission standards for motor vehicles beginning in 2017, essentially halting the tremendous progress that has been made in reducing vehicle emissions and improving fuel economy. Improving vehicle efficiency is critical to lessen our nation's dependence on foreign oil and to reduce emissions that are a major contributor to air pollution.
"As Russell Train, the former EPA Administrator under both Presidents Nixon and Ford, observed, the McConnell amendment 'would fundamentally undermine the Clean Air Act….For 40 years, the Clean Air Act has protected the health and welfare of the American people saving hundreds of thousands of lives while vastly improving the quality of the air we breathe. These health benefits have consistently been accompanied by economic benefits as well.'
"Perhaps we take for granted the landmark environmental laws that protect the air we breathe and the water we drink. The Clean Air Act, authored by Maine's own Senator Ed Muskie more than 40 years ago, has reduced air pollutants, protecting and improving our nation's air quality and public health for decades.
Maine is located at the end of our nation's "air pollution tailpipe" and we already have one of the highest asthma rates in the nation, affecting one in ten adults and over 25,000 children.
"Yet the McConnell proposal would amend the Clean Air Act to strip the EPA permanently of its authority to limit greenhouse gas emissions. As such, it rejects the 2007 Supreme Court's ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA that carbon pollution does pose a threat to human well being and to the health of our environment. I would note that Maine was one of the petitioners in support of this action. The Court's ruling was based, in part, on the conclusions of scientists in both Democratic and Republican Administrations as well as prestigious researchers at institutions such as the University of Maine's Climate Change Institute.
"Preventing the EPA from ever acting also would delay development of domestic sources of alternatives to fossil fuels and impede the creation of new "clean energy" jobs, such as the 15,000 jobs estimated to be created by the development of deepwater, off-shore wind energy in Maine. It would also delay actions that would lessen our nation's dangerous dependence on Middle East oil.
"Let me make clear: I believe this Administration and its EPA Administrator have over-reached and over-regulated. I led the fight in the Senate to delay EPA's onerous, poorly implemented lead paint removal rules as well as the effort to force EPA to rethink its costly proposals to regulate emissions from boilers. I lack confidence in this EPA's leadership. That is another reason why I supported the two-year prohibition on EPA acting in this area. This will provide time for Congress to decide the regulatory framework that defines precisely the parameters of EPA's authority.
"But to say that EPA cannot ever act in this area is to ignore the scientific consensus that greenhouse gas emissions pose a threat to our health and our planet.
"I continue to believe the best way forward is for Congress to pass a reasonable framework for regulating carbon pollution, as Senator Cantwell and I proposed in the CLEAR Act. This bipartisan Senate legislation would position the U.S. to be a leader in renewable energy and energy conservation technologies, help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create new "green energy" jobs in our country rather than in China, and protect consumers by rebating 75 percent of revenues generated by the bill directly to American families.
Preventing EPA from acting to regulate greenhouse gas emissions for two years would give Congress the opportunity to direct the EPA to develop reasonable, workable guidelines to tackle this serious problem."