House La. Republicans seek Senate vote on EPA regs

Louisiana’s GOP House delegation have sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) encouraging him to allow a Senate vote on a bill to block the Environmental Protection Agency’s power plant carbon regulations.

Calling the EPA’s rules, which were unveiled earlier this week, “costly, backdoor cap-and-trade style regulations,” the congressmen said the carbon emissions limits would curb Louisiana’s economic growth by $8.2 billion and cost 36,000 jobs.

{mosads}Those figures were based on a Chamber of Commerce report that made assumptions that did not align with the rule, including that emissions would be reduced 42 percent, compared with the 30 percent in the proposal.

“Prior academic studies and expert testimony have well documented that both high energy prices and rampant unemployment have significant public health ramifications,” said the letter, signed by Reps. Bill Cassidy, Charles Boustany, Steve Scalise, John Fleming and Vance McAllister.

The congressmen asked Reid to bring to the Senate floor two recent bills the House has passed. One would require new review and oversight of the EPA’s most expensive regulations, while the other would prevent cap-and-trade policies, the representatives said.

“Our nation’s economy is still struggling and our national unemployment rate is still to high,” they wrote. “The federal government should focus on creating jobs instead of proposing regulations that hamstring the economy, raising utility costs for families and destroying tens of thousands of jobs.

Louisiana Sens. David Vitter (R) and Mary Landrieu (D) have both spoken out against the EPA’s proposal.