Environmental Regulations

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, in just a few minutes, President Obama will deliver another blow to the economy and to the middle class. He will unveil regressive regulations that are set to harm struggling workers and families. They are projected to cost literally billions. They threaten to ship good middle-class jobs overseas and will likely make it harder to maintain reliable sources of energy to meet demand. They will also likely result in higher energy bills for those who can least afford them, potentially raising electricity rates by double digits for people I represent.

All of this, and for what? Not only will these massive regulations fail to meaningfully affect the global climate, but they could actually end up harming the environment by outsourcing the energy production to countries with poorer environmental records like India and China.

They may also be illegal. That is why I wrote the Governors earlier this year, suggesting they take a responsible wait-and-see approach and allow the courts to weigh in before subjecting their citizens to such unnecessary pain.

The Supreme Court's rebuke to the White House in June on another environmental regulation underlines the wisdom of this approach. Even though that mercury regulation was ultimately tossed out, most of its damage had already been done. It reminded Governors that it would be reckless not to take a wait-and-see approach this time.

Now, several Governors have already decided they will not allow the administration to rush them into adopting these regulations, and I expect more to follow. I was recently able to place language in the Senate Interior appropriations bill that would prohibit the administration from arbitrarily imposing its will on States that take this responsible approach.

Senator Capito also has a bill that would prohibit the regulations from moving forward until the courts have ruled on their legality. These aren't the only legislative options Congress can consider. We can pursue other avenues like CRA resolutions and further appropriations riders as these regulations are published and as they wind their way through the courts.

Here is the bottom line about today's announcement. If the Obama administration were actually serious about advancing renewable energy, then it would follow the example of what leaders like Senator Murkowski have been achieving in the Energy Committee. She is showing how we can make big strides on energy diversification and that we can do it in a bipartisan way and that we don't have to punish the middle class to do it.

This White House seems to want good politics, not good policy. Officials in this administration have said they want to make electricity rates skyrocket, and they want to make examples out of people who get in the way. They are tired of having to work with the Congress the people elected. That is why the administration is now trying to impose these deeply regressive regulations--regulations that may be illegal, won't meaningfully impact the global environment, and will likely harm middle and lower class Americans the most--by executive fiat. It represents a triumph of blind ideology over sound policy and honest compassion.

In Kentucky, these regulations would likely mean fewer jobs, shuttered powerplants, and higher electricity costs for families and businesses. I am not going to sit by while the White House takes aim at the lifeblood of our State's economy. I am going to keep doing everything I can to fight them.

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