IER Response to EPA’s Clean Power Plan Repeal Proposal

WASHINGTON — Institute for Energy Research President Thomas Pyle has issued the following statement regarding EPA’s proposed repeal of its existing source rule, commonly known as the Clean Power Plan, in accordance with President Trump’s energy independence executive order:

“The Clean Power Plan was never about clean power. The nation’s electricity generation fleet is already very clean and getting cleaner—as shown by the nearly 70-percent reduction in criteria pollutants since 1970. The plan was really about instituting more federal control over a dispersed system and driving up the cost of reliable electricity in line with the previous administration’s climate ideology. The result would have been residents in more than 40 states experiencing double-digit percentage increases in their electricity rates by 2030. For that reason, we preferred to call it the Creating Poverty Plan.

“Beyond its implications in terms of dollars and cents, the plan wasn’t cooperative federalism as EPA claimed, but coercive federalism and a misapplication of the Clean Air Act. It extended EPA power in unprecedented ways and marked a clear deviation from the agency’s traditional role. IER commends EPA for its decision to rescind this harmful rule. This is a major victory for American families because it enables all of us to continue reaping the benefits of the affordable energy we need to power our lives and grow the economy.”

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