[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 38 (Thursday, March 6, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E319]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               ELECTRICITY SECURITY AND AFFORDABILITY ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 5, 2014

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 3826) to 
     provide direction to the Administrator of the Environmental 
     Protection Agency regarding the establishment of standards 
     for emissions of any greenhouse gas from fossil fuel-fired 
     electric utility generating units, and for other purposes:

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to H.R. 3826, which 
would short-circuit an ongoing process to engage stakeholders and 
develop reasonable, effective controls on carbon pollution from power 
plants.
  This pollution poses a serious threat to public health. According to 
the American Public Health Association, about half of the U.S. 
population lives in areas where air pollution is linked to illness, 
including asthma, heart attacks, lung cancer, and stroke. Moreover, an 
overwhelming majority of climate scientists agree that carbon pollution 
is linked to climate change, causing sea-level rise and more extreme 
weather events across the globe. That is why the Supreme Court has 
confirmed that the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority 
under the Clean Air Act to address carbon pollution and safeguard our 
health and natural resources.
  Power plants are the largest source of carbon pollution in the United 
States, but their carbon emissions are completely unregulated. 
Currently, the Environmental Protection Agency is engaged with 
stakeholders to develop a rule for emissions for new power plants, and 
they plan to address existing power plants as well. These rules would 
use available technologies for carbon capture and sequestration.
  Today's legislation would halt that process. It leaves pollution 
controls on new power plants to the discretion of the plants 
themselves, which are unlikely to take action unless an industry-wide 
standard is in place. And it effectively repeals the Environmental 
Protection Agency's authority to limit carbon pollution from existing 
power plants.
  By preventing any limitation on the largest source of carbon 
pollution in the United States, this bill recklessly endangers public 
health and the environment. I urge a ``no'' vote.

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