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Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02) issued the following statement in response to the Administration’s Clean Power Plan:

“The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to insert itself more and more into every facet of our daily lives.  Today is no different.  With this announcement comes growing concern that Kentucky families and business owners will see higher energy costs.

“The final power plant emissions rule released by President Obama today doubles down on the Administration’s War on Coal and provides a huge boon to radical environmentalists and unelected Washington bureaucrats, while consumers in Kentucky will be left to foot the bill, forced to restrict their budgets once again to pay for overreaching regulations.  Sadly, low-income consumers will be hit the hardest, precisely the people who should be helped by federal policy, not harmed.

“The Commonwealth has one of the lowest average costs for electricity in the country and we should be doing all we can to protect the consumers who benefit from these rates.  That’s why I voted in support of Congressman Whitfield’s Ratepayer Protection Act (H.R. 2042), which dictates that no state can be forced to impose significant costs on its citizens as a result of the Clean Power Plan.  H.R. 2042 also requires judicial review of the final rule to conclude before states must comply with the regulation.  As we’ve seen in recent cases, by the time a court rules on new federal agency regulations it may be too late for the regulated industries to reverse course, even if the court ultimately rules in favor of consumers.”

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