In a September 22 letter to a handful of utility companies backing the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “train wreck” rules, 14 House Republicans accused the Clean Energy Group (CEG) of using environmental rhetoric to conceal its commercial interest in EPA rules that will lead to higher household utility bills and unemployment. “Your advocacy of these rules is rooted neither in concern for public health nor for the environment, but in rent seeking,” said the congressional letter. “These rules will confer on your companies—which predominantly generate electricity from natural gas and nuclear power—a competitive advantage in the marketplace at the expense of consumers.”
In related action, Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee accused administration witnesses of killing jobs by promoting “clean energy” projects at the expense of fossil fuel employment. Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) told Department of Labor Secretary Linda Solis that her administration has waged “systematic war” against fossil energy while aggressively pushing clean energy, often with reckless indifference to the consequences to job growth or taxpayer-supported subsidies.
