Abby L. Harvey
GHG Daily
2/2/2016
Progress so far on the Senate’s Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015 has been mostly congenial, with 31 largely bipartisan amendments brought to the floor and agreed to by Wednesday morning. As the week drags on, however, more controversial amendments are popping up, potentially threatening the future of the bill.
Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has introduced a slew of amendments aimed at thwarting the Environmental Protection Agency’s attempts to control carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants via its Clean Power Plan regulation.
The Obama administration has made clear that any bill that comes to the president that would impede its climate change mitigation efforts will be vetoed.
The Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015 is a bipartisan legislative update to the nation’s energy policy. The package aims to save energy, expand domestic energy supplies, enable infrastructure investment, protect the electric grid, boost energy trade, improve the performance of federal agencies, and renew effective conservation programs.
The bill was reported out of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee in late July by a vote of 18-4. By the request of committee Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the bill’s sponsors, controversial amendments were to be held until floor debate.
Inhofe this week offered four amendments that would either halt or prevent the implementation of the EPA rule, which requires states to develop action plans to meet federally set, state-specific carbon emissions reduction goals. One amendment would require the EPA to submit a report to Congress that contains environmental and economic impacts of the final Clean Power Plan before the rule can go into effect. Under a second amendment, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) would have to submit a report to Congress assessing the Clean Power Plan’s impact on grid reliability before the rule could enter into force.
Two other amendments would prevent any action from being taken under the president’s Climate Action Plan, including implementation of the Clean Power Plan, if that action would result in reduced grid reliability or increased energy prices.
As of Tuesday evening, committee staff expressed cautious optimism that the amendments were nothing to worry about, yet. “Right now, filed amendments will not necessarily receive a vote, so we are keeping our focus on the amendments that are brought to a vote. So far, none of Sen. Inhofe’s amendments have been negotiated to be brought up for a vote,” a committee spokesperson told GHG Daily.
