WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today spoke on the floor about her opposition to the Environmental Protection Agency’s new rule governing power plant emissions – the Mercury and Air Toxic Standards rule. The Senate is set to vote today on a measure by Sen. James Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, to block the Utility MACT Rule.

(Click for full video of floor speech)

“The EPA is proceeding with an unprecedented litany of new rules whose benefits are murky but whose costs are very real and detrimental to human welfare,” Murkowski said. “The nation can and must do a better job of striking the proper balance. Even in today's divided times, a broad consensus remains: achieving affordable and abundant energy coupled with strong environmental standards is the right combination. Most would also agree that energy and environment-related public policy decisions should be based on the facts and informed by rigorous scientific discourse.”

While EPA made changes to the rule between the proposed and final stages, in part due to concerns raised by Murkowski, the final Utility MACT rule still puts the reliability of the nation’s electricity grid at risk and will result in higher utility bills for consumers.

The final rule fails to provide adequate time for compliance in light of reliability challenges and is projected to impose billions in direct and indirect costs that outweigh the rule’s benefits. 

“The EPA’s overreach is quite simply stifling the energy and natural resource production our nation needs to restore prosperity,” Murkowski said.

Murkowski wrote an opinion piece on the new Mercury and Air Toxic Standards rule that was published yesterday in The Hill newspaper.

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For further information, please contact Robert Dillon at 202.224.6977 or Robert_dillon@energy.senate.gov or Megan Moskowitz at 202.224.7875 or Megan_Moskowitz@energy.senate.gov.

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