Press Releases

Today, Congressman Jason Smith renewed his opposition to the Environmental Protection Agency’s New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) on new power plants that will be included in the Federal Register today. The new standards will limit emissions from new power plants and have the potential to raise Missourians electric rates. These rules are specifically targeted at the coal-fired power plants relied on throughout Missouri’s Eighth Congressional District where over 80% of electricity is generated by coal.

“Unfortunately, the Obama EPA is also rejecting clean coal technology and issuing strict standards for new coal-fired electric generating plants. The new standards essentially guarantee no new coal-fired plants will be built.  If we cannot use the reliable energy coal provides, lights across rural Missouri and all of rural America will be out,” said Smith. “President Obama’s new rules could increase the cost to build a new coal-fired power plant by over $1 billion. The $1 billion price tag makes new coal-fired power plants virtually unaffordable. At a time when America’s energy needs are increasing, the EPA should not stand in the way of building new power plants.”

In response to these proposed EPA New Source Performance Standards, Smith is co-sponsoring legislation offered by Congressman Ed Whitfield of Kentucky. This legislation would require that any new standards of greenhouse gas reduction required by the EPA must have actually been achieved – preventing the EPA from releasing regulatory standards designed to be unattainable.

“These new rules and regulations require Carbon Capture and Sequestration technology that is not available in the commercial market – meaning someone may have done it in a lab, or on one occasion, but it is not something that could be reproduced industry wide,” said Smith. “Missourians and other rural Americans stand to lose when Washington bureaucrats regulate rural energy production instead of creating a responsible energy policy. Democrats and Republicans in Congress joined together to reject President Obama’s cap and trade ideas. Now the President is attempting to enforce these same kinds of ideas through new Environmental Protection Agency regulations without the approval of Congress.”

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