The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, along with nearly two dozen business groups, are asking senators to stop the Environmental Protection Agency's greenhouse gas (GHG) regulation of power plants, and other stationary energy sources, set to go into effect on January 2011, reports Bloomberg.
In addition to the U.S. Chamber, the American Petroleum Institute, the National Manufacturers Association and the American Chemistry Council are pushing senators to block EPA actions, reports The Hill.
Opponents say the regulation will hurt businesses and the economy as well as eliminate jobs. In August, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit that challenges EPA's 2009 endangerment finding, which is the foundation for the agency's ruling on limiting emissions from power plants, factories and other heavy emitters.
In February, several industry groups, conservative think tanks, lawmakers and three states filed 16 court challenges against EPA's endangerment finding.
The EPA restrictions would impose "substantial costs and burdens on U.S. jobs and state resources while intruding on Congress's important leadership role in developing energy policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions," the 21 groups stated in the letter (PDF) sent to 10 senators, reports The Hill.
The letter was sent to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Appropriations ranking member Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Democrats Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Byron Dorgan (N.D.), Tim Johnson (S.D.), Mary Landrieu (La.), Ben Nelson (Neb.), Mark Pryor (Ark.), Arlen Specter (Pa.) and Jon Tester (Mont.).
Dorgan, Johnson, Landrieu, Nelson and Pryor have supported efforts to either prevent or delay EPA's ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, reports The Hill. The industry groups also hope to sway coal-state senators, Brown and Specter, based on the impact the EPA regulations could have on the coal industry, according to the article.
