State senate leaders have released a statement criticizing President Joe Biden’s new power plant emission rules.
The new limits released by the federal Environmental Protection Agency would require coal-fired power plants to capture smokestack emissions or shut down. Other measures include a reduction in toxic wastewater pollutants and the safe management of coal ash in unlined storage ponds. EPA administrator Michael Regan said that these rules are meant to reduce pollution and improve public health.
The news did not meet well with the Pennsylvania Senate Republican leadership. In a joint statement, Majority leader Joe Pittman, President Pro Tempore Kim Ward and Appropriations Chairman Scott Martin called the policy “Short-sighted” and “disastrous”, saying that the policy will “hurt electricity consumers and make our (power) grid less reliable.” He said that PJM has already announced rolling blackouts could come in just a few years because the energy production will not be able to keep up with future demand, and taking power plants offline will accelerate that problem, along with the fact that it will hurt a lot of Pennsylvanians as the new rules will cost thousands of jobs. They encourage Governor Josh Shapiro and Pennsylvania’s federal legislators to oppose and help reverse the decision.
