House Climate Hearing a Farce; GOP Should Support Clean Air, Cost Savings for Consumers

Statement of David Arkush, Managing Director of Public Citizen’s Climate Program

Today, the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology holds a hearing to criticize the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) plan to curb climate-disrupting carbon pollution from power plants. The hearing will be a farce, as Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) is on record denying the science of climate change, and in this Congress alone, House Republicans have voted 217 times against clean air, the environment, climate change policy and clean energy. Despite mounting evidence that climate change is harming our natural environment in disastrous ways, as well as positive news that we can respond much more cheaply than expected, their story remains the same: Deny there is a problem, and deny there are solutions.

The EPA’s proposal to curb carbon pollution is good policy on economic and consumer grounds alone. The EPA projects that its plan will boost the economy by $26 billion to $84 billion per year and lower consumers’ electric bills 9 percent by 2030. These benefits stem not just from slowing climate change, but from curbing air pollution from the dirtiest power plants, promoting energy from renewable sources and using energy more efficiently. House Republicans who deny the science of climate change should still support cleaning up the air to make Americans healthier. They should still support saving American consumers money on their utility bills. And they should support making the U.S. a leader on cleaner and cheaper energy sources rather than clinging to dirty, unhealthy and expensive energy from the past.

Contact: Angela Bradbery (202) 588-7741
Karilyn Gower (202) 588-7779