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Congressman Scott Tipton (R-CO) is urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to solicit input from stakeholders in rural communities that will suffer the greatest impact from the Administration’s proposed job-killing regulations on power plants.

The EPA is holding 11 listening sessions on the agency’s proposed regulations which amount to a backdoor energy tax that will raise energy costs, stunt economic growth, and kill jobs.  These potential regulations are already having a serious impact on rural communities including Craig, Gunnison and Delta in the 3rd District. Despite the significant impact of these proposals for rural stakeholders, the EPA scheduled listening sessions for only urban areas, with a single listening session scheduled for Colorado—in downtown Denver this week.

In a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy Tipton wrote:

Dear Administrator McCarthy:

I write to express my strong concern about the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) recent announcement regarding public listening sessions and the agency’s intent to move forward with new regulations for power plants.  While soliciting feedback from the general public, energy consumers and producers, small businesses and other stakeholders is extremely important, your 11 scheduled listening sessions throughout the country will only occur in major urban areas. The only hearing scheduled for my home state of Colorado is slated for Wednesday, October 30th from 9am-5pm in downtown Denver. In response to questions posed as part of your April 2013 nomination hearing you stated that, “If confirmed, I will seek ways to further transparency” and you also committed to ensure that EPA work is guided by “stakeholder engagement”.  I fail to see how meeting during business hours, in a major metropolitan area that is hundreds of miles from some of the communities that will be most directly affected by the proposed regulations furthers transparency or includes real stakeholder engagement.   This proposed listening session doesn’t allow for sufficient input from rural America and people that have traditional job hours.  

Following the President’s directive requiring your agency to pursue these new regulations, I held a July hearing in the House Small Business Subcommittee that I chair to examine the potential impacts of these regulatory proposals and so members of Congress could hear about how the EPA plans to comply with the requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The Committee invited officials from the EPA to provide testimony, hear from small businesses, and explain the agency’s plan moving forward. Unfortunately, after giving a variety of excuses, the agency declined to send an official to participate in the hearing. 

The proposed regulations by the Administration over the last several years for new and existing power plants have already had devastating effects on our economy and killed good paying jobs. Since 2009, over 200 different plants in 25 different states have been forced to shut their doors. Most of the remaining plants that would be negatively impacted by the new EPA proposals are nowhere near where the 11 listening sessions are being held. Residents and businesses in rural America will suffer the most as a result of these new proposals and they deserve to be heard. As a result, I would encourage you to schedule additional listening sessions in rural areas at a time when hard working Americans can attend.

Furthermore, I would encourage the EPA and the Administration to pursue a true all-of-the-above energy policy that does not pick winner and losers based on a particular agenda. We have tremendous untapped energy potential in this country and should be implementing a balanced approach that includes wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal, oil, natural gas, coal, oil shale and mineral development. Our nation’s energy future demands this type of plan and implementing such a policy will get people back to work, keep energy costs low for families and businesses, and strengthen our national security. 

Thank you for taking time to consider my comments. Moving forward please let me know if you have questions or need any additional information.

A pdf of the letter is available here.

Background:

Tipton, who serves on the House Natural Resources Committee, is a strong proponent of anall-of-the-above energy strategy and has introduced several pieces of legislation to responsibly develop America’s energy resources. He most recently passed a bill into law this year to expand clean, renewable hydropower production and create rural jobs.

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