Representative Dave Williams: The plan would have “dealt a death blow” to small businesses.
Colorado small business owners won a huge victory this week, when Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt filed a proposal to repeal the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, which required that states use energy sources other than coal to reduce carbon emissions.
State Representative Dave Williams, in a guest editorial in The Gazette, hailed it as a victory for small business owners and consumers. “The plan would have dealt a death blow to Colorado’s 12 coal power plants and their counterparts across the country as well as hurt the consumers and small businesses who rely on them for power,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper assailed the move to repeal the plan. “We have dramatically cleaner air and we are saving money. My question to the E.P.A. would be, ‘Which part of that don’t you like?’” Mr. Hickenlooper said.
The 2015 Clean Power Plan aimed to reduce power sector emissions by 32 percent under 2005 levels by 2030, according to Politico. NFIB, along with 24 states and other industry groups, challenged the regulation in a lawsuit and asked that a federal court issue an injunction. The Supreme Court temporarily stopped the regulation last year by issuing a stay while courts considered the case.
“We are grateful to President Trump and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt for initiating this process,” said NFIB President and CEO Juanita Duggan. “The Clean Power Plan is an example of regulatory overreach, and it would be a massive drain on the small business economy.”
