GHG Daily Vol. 1 No. 9
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January 21, 2016

Energy Industry Officials Unhappy with Current Regulatory Regime

By Abby Harvey

Abby L. Harvey
GHG Daily
1/22/2016

The nation’s energy industry is “over-regulated,” according to several industry officials who spoke this week at the United States Energy Association’s annual State of the Energy Industry Forum in Washington, D.C. Officials took aim at several regulations, though none more so than the Environmental Protection Agency’s carbon emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plant, the Clean Power Plan.

“The Clean Power Plan … attempts to tilt the scale of the energy markets not based on energy markets, consumer preference, or economic reality,” according to Jack Gerard, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute. “Instead, it is a means to further a particular political ideology. Their goal is to replace an all-of-the-above national energy strategy with a national ‘keep it in the ground’ energy policy, all in the name of protecting the climate and that is unrealistic and unworkable.”

Many of the 11 speakers at the event criticized the Clean Power Plan or expressed their belief that the rule has cast uncertainty on the future of their industries. The greatest exceptions to this trend came from Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, who said the rule presents “opportunity” and Dan Dolan, president of the New England Power Generators Association, who stated that the Clean Power Plan is a “nonevent” in New England, due in part to ongoing efforts to reduce emissions.

But Gerard asserted that the regulation, which requires states to develop action plans to meet federally set, state-specific carbon emissions reductions targets, is unnecessary given that national carbon emissions are already falling due to natural changes in the energy market. “The Clean Power Plan overlooks the success record of domestic natural gas, which has lowered electricity prices, reduced our carbon emissions, and positioned the US as a global energy leader,” he said.

Hal Quinn, president and CEO of the National Mining Association, criticized a different, more recent, coal-related action out of the administration – a temporary moratorium ordered last week on coal leasing on federal lands. “The reasoning was we need an environmental review, not stated was that every coal lease goes through multiple environmental reviews at various levels,” he said.

The moratorium will apply only to new leases and will not affect leases already in place, according to the Interior Department. Currently, coal production on federal lands accounts for roughly 40 percent of all U.S. coal output. During the pause on coal leasing, the Interior Department said it will conduct a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) review of the federal coal program “in order to ensure that it is properly structured to provide a fair return to taxpayers and reflect its impacts on the environment, while continuing to help meet our energy needs.”

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