[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 18 (Wednesday, January 31, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S299-S300]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Nomination of Joseph Goffman

  Madam President, I rise today in strong opposition to the nomination 
of Joe Goffman to lead the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of 
Air and Radiation.
  Mr. Goffman has been the Biden administration's leading political 
appointee in that office now for over 3 years without Senate 
confirmation. He also spent all 8 years of the Obama administration in 
the same EPA office. Rarely do we have such a robust record to draw on 
in evaluating a nominee. And I say this with great disappointment: 
Rarely is the record so damaging.
  Mr. Goffman's actions, marked by Federal overreach and job-killing 
regulations, have been a disaster for our country. Under President 
Obama, Mr. Goffman was a chief architect of the Clean Power Plan. This 
rule aimed to close down coal- and gas-fired powerplants, especially 
those in my own home State of West Virginia, but it was a direct shot 
at American energy production.
  In 2022, the Supreme Court confirmed what we all knew: The original 
Clean Power Plan was illegal. Unfortunately, before this rejection, 
mines were shuttered, workers were laid off, and communities were left 
behind. Yet this has not fazed Mr. Goffman. Recently, in his current 
position at the EPA, Mr. Goffman has proposed the second iteration of 
the Clean Power Plan.
  Many of us have warned a lot about the lawlessness and the danger of 
this regulatory plan, and I appreciate my colleagues on both sides of 
the aisle speaking truth to the EPA in recent letters about what this 
would do to our economy and to our energy sector. But you don't have to 
take it from us. Here is what our Nation's grid operators, which are 
nonpartisan groups responsible for ensuring our electrical system is 
reliable and affordable, said about the Clean Power Plan 2.0:

       Without firm proof of the commercial and operational 
     viability of these technologies, proceeding with these 
     requirements could place the reliability of the electric grid 
     in jeopardy. In short, hope is not an acceptable strategy.

  Despite these concerns, Mr. Goffman is intent on implementing this 
part of a misguided climate agenda regardless of what the law says or 
its disastrous consequences on the reliability of the grid or the 
affordability of energy.
  I have also spoken before about the Biden administration's rapid push 
toward electric vehicles despite warning signs and lack of a plan to 
deal with the inevitable increased electricity demand. Compliance with 
the EPA's current policy would require two-thirds of new cars to be 
electric by model year 2032, and now California wants to push the auto 
industry even faster, requiring that all new cars must be electric by 
2035. And important to note, since Senator Schumer last filed cloture, 
Mr. Goffman's office has agreed to formally consider this request by 
California to ban sales of all new cars with internal combustion 
engines within the next decade. Well, we saw what happened with our 
electric vehicles during the cold spell we just had.
  Meanwhile, automakers have sounded the alarm that Americans simply 
aren't buying EVs at rates that would match this pace and have scaled 
back previously announced investments. So the EPA is trying to force 
Americans to buy expensive electric cars--and they are more expensive--
that they can't afford, at a rate they do not want. And this is all at 
Mr. Goffman's direction.
  Already in 2024, we are seeing the courts working to correct the 
regulatory confusion created when the EPA Office of Air and Radiation 
oversteps its legal authorities. As an example, the EPA's so-called 
``Good Neighbor'' regulation would remove the authority States have to 
manage their environmental policy under the Clean Air Act.
  Initially, Mr. Goffman's rule targeted 23 States, and--you are 
right--one of

[[Page S300]]

them was mine, but just in the last week, his office proposed to expand 
the rule to 5 more States, which now include Arizona, Iowa, Kansas, New 
Mexico, and Tennessee. This has caused the Supreme Court to step in 
once again and consider pausing the program while litigation proceeds.
  We are also expecting Mr. Goffman's office to finalize an 
unattainable, unnecessary air regulation that would threaten 
manufacturing jobs and projects across the country. That rule is 
expected any day now.
  So, to sum it up, from his more than 10 years at the EPA, we know 
this is what Joe Goffman stands for because he has shown us this time 
and time again. His record is one that consistently kills American 
jobs, threatens our electric grid, and violates the law. That is why I 
continue to strongly oppose his nomination today, and I urge my 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do the same.
  I yield the floor.
  (At the request of Ms. Lummis, the following statement was ordered to 
be printed in the Record.)
 Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I rise to oppose the 
confirmation of Joseph Goffman for Assistant Administrator of the 
Environmental Protection Agency.
  My opposition is not about a person. My opposition is about a 
poisonous idea. The idea of total government control. Mr. Goffman wants 
to control what Americans can drive, where Americans can work, and what 
Americans can buy. Mr. Goffman wants to do this by imposing political, 
punishing, and penalizing regulations. These regulations will cost 
Americans their future and their freedom.
  From energy to the environment, Mr. Goffman's record is radical and 
extreme. Mr. Goffman is one of the main architects of the so-called 
Clean Power Plan. This was such an extreme overreach that it was struck 
down by the Supreme Court. Mr. Goffman is also a champion of Joe 
Biden's out-of-touch, electric vehicle mandates. Mr. Goffman is one of 
Joe Biden's top generals in Democrats' war on affordable, reliable, 
american-made energy. By the EPA's own estimates, the regulatory costs 
imposed by Mr. Goffman's department already exceed $500 billion. Mr. 
Goffman is determined to keep pushing Democrats' job-killing, radical, 
out-of-touch, environmental agenda.
  The Supreme Court has repeatedly shot down the EPA for overreaching 
in its authority. Mr. Goffman doesn't care what the Court says. He 
wants to defy its rulings, including the landmark case West Virginia v. 
EPA. Mr. Goffman had the audacity to tell the New York Times, ``This 
case does not take anything off the menu.''
  President Biden has chosen another unelected, unaccountable, heavy-
handed, Washington bureaucrat who believes the rules don't apply to 
him. If confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Goffman will not moderate. He will 
not change. He will not stop.
  If you want an EPA that is more aggressive, more out-of-touch, and 
controls more of your life, then vote for Mr. Goffman. But if you want 
to lower costs, unleash American energy, and protect American jobs, 
then vote no.
  Energy-producing States such as Wyoming have been in Mr. Goffman's 
crosshairs for years. We should not allow him to have his fingers on 
the trigger.
  The Senate must reject his nomination.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Cortez Masto). The Senator from Delaware.
  Mr. CARPER. Madam President, I rise today in support of Joe Goffman's 
nomination to serve as Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Air 
and Radiation.
  At the end of last year, I joined several of our colleagues to 
discuss our recent delegation trip to Dubai for the annual United 
Nations climate conference, known as COP28. While on the ground, our 
message to the world was clear: The United States is again leading the 
global effort to attack the climate crisis.
  That leadership is thanks in no small part to the Biden 
administration's work to implement the unprecedented climate and clean 
energy investments that many of us here on this floor helped to enact 
into law. It is also thanks to the historic action by the Environmental 
Protection Agency to rein in climate pollution in a way that supports 
economic growth and job creation.
  Still, meeting our Nation's climate goals, reducing harmful air 
pollution, and supporting good-paying, clean energy jobs requires 
having the right leadership in place.
  As I have said before many times on this floor, the Office of Air and 
Radiation has an outside impact on our lives, and the American people 
deserve someone leading this office who is committed to carrying out 
its mission. That includes reducing climate pollution, while also 
improving our vehicle emissions standards and protecting public 
health--all of which go hand in hand with economic growth and job 
creation.
  Mr. Goffman has proven that he is up to the task. Under his 
direction, the EPA has made significant progress in implementing many 
of the programs that we secured in the Inflation Reduction Act. That 
includes programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to help lower 
energy costs for all Americans.
  From the earliest days of his career serving on the Senate 
Environment and Public Works Committee, which I am now privileged to 
chair, to his time at EPA under President Obama and now President 
Biden, Joe Goffman has dedicated his life's work to cleaning up the air 
that we breathe and protecting our one and only planet. He is 
thoughtful, he is principled, and he is humble. I know those things 
because Joe has served as chief counsel of the Environment and Public 
Works Committee, which I am now privileged to chair.
  Importantly, he has followed and continues to follow the law, and he 
does so in a way that also provides certainty and predictability for 
the industry.
  Joe Goffman is also committed to fair outcomes, and that is because 
he cares about doing things the right way while listening to the 
concerns of all who might be impacted by changes to our Nation's clean 
air standards. Don't just take my word for it. Over 50 groups 
representing a broad coalition of interests, from--oh my, what a wide 
group, and I will mention them in a minute--they voiced their support 
for Joe Goffman's confirmation to serve as EPA's Assistant 
Administrator.
  Here is just a sample of the breadth of the groups that are 
supporting his nomination: National Resources Defense Council, the 
League of Conservation Voters, the Sierra Club, the Environmental 
Defense Fund, and the National Wildlife Federation. That is to name a 
few. Just as importantly, though, key industry partners, such as the 
Edison Electric Institute and the Renewable Fuels Association, support 
Joe Goffman's nomination. Finally, Joe Goffman's nomination has the 
support of some of our Nation's largest labor unions, and they include 
the AFL-CIO and the United Steelworkers. Even the United Mine Workers 
of America, our Nation's largest union of coal miners, has voiced its 
support for Mr. Goffman's nomination. A coalition this broad does not 
happen every day and certainly not on this floor, and it bears 
testimony to Joe's character and his commitment to doing what is right.
  Let me close, if I could, by saying that Joe Goffman, I believe, is 
the right person to lead EPA's Office of Air and Radiation during this 
critical time for our Nation. I am confident that he will excel in this 
important role, in part because he is already doing the job. I do not 
doubt that Joe will be considerate, he will be courteous, and he will 
be inclusive as he develops EPA's rules to reduce harmful pollution, 
clean up the air we breathe, and protect America's health and well-
being.
  With that, I want to urge our colleagues to join me and to join us, I 
hope, in supporting Mr. Goffman's nomination so that he can continue 
serving the Nation. He will not disappoint us in the confidence we have 
placed in him.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the scheduled vote 
occur immediately.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.