The Honorable Sheldon Whitehouse
Chairman
Subcommittee on Oversight
Committee on Environment and Public Works
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Henry A. Waxman
Ranking Member
Committee on Energy and Commerce
U. S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Senator Whitehouse and Representative Waxman:
Thank you for your letter of January 31, 2013. As you requested, the Chamber has forwarded to relevant members your appeal for input on actions the federal government could take on climate change, asking that they send any ideas they may have directly to your offices.
The Chamber also has repeatedly cautioned against regulating greenhouse gases using authorities in statutes, such as the Clean Air Act, never intended for, and ill-suited to, this task. Regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act has generated a great deal of regulatory uncertainty and numerous legal challenges as the Environmental Protection Agency stretches the bounds of the Act beyond recognition, leading to results incompatible with the statute’s structure. Therefore, decisions about whether and how to regulate greenhouse gases should be made by Congress, not the EPA. The Chamber also supports legislation like that passed by the House last year requiring that proposed regulations pass a cost-benefit test.
I hope these views are helpful to your work.
Sincerely,
R. Bruce Josten
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