Congressman Bob Gibbs: EPA Administrator Jackson is the Biggest Stumbling Block to American Job Creation

Release:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Bob Gibbs (R-OH) released the following statement regarding EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson’s comments yesterday about the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Air Transport Rule (CATR) and Utility Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) proposals:

“Yesterday, EPA Administrator Jackson accused Michael G. Morris, chairman and chief executive officer of one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, of using scare tactics and misleading the public. She has once again managed to ignore the reality of the havoc her agency has managed to wreak on our economy.

“Administrator Jackson is the biggest stumbling block to American job creation. At a time when families are struggling to make ends meet and put food on the table, the EPA wants to take away their paychecks and shut off their lights. Congress didn't give EPA the authority to pursue an agenda that hurts the very people it's supposedly trying to protect.

“Even with these facts staring her in the face, Jackson has tried to vilify an organization that puts paychecks in over 18,000 Americans in eleven states. She refuses to believe that they know what they are talking about when they say they will be forced to lay-off nearly 600 power plant workers, totaling nearly $40 million in annual wages. Furthermore, according to a recent study by the non-partisan National Economic Research Associates Inc. (NERA), the new regulations are expected to cost 53,500 Ohio jobs and 1.44 MILLION American jobs by 2020.

“Of course, the effects to the communities will be far greater than these direct job losses alone, as electricity prices increase and nearby businesses suffer in the wake of plant closures. Not to mention that reduced energy capacity will increase the occurrence of rolling blackouts and electrical shortages throughout the country.

“In Ohio we mine coal and burn coal, and have thousands of jobs because of coal. We are proud of our coal heritage. The EPA has waged war on fossil fuels and I hope that my colleagues in Congress will join me in putting a stop to it.”