Public utilities differ on gas regulation
TEXT OF STORY
BOB MOON:Climate change legislation has stalled in Congress, though there are some Senate mutterings it could be resurrected soon. Starting next year, the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to regulate greenhouse gas emissions through the Clean Air Act. Several business groups and utilities oppose that. And one association has backed efforts to block the EPA.
But as Jennifer Collins reports from the Marketplace Sustainability Desk, it turns out that association doesn’t speak for all its members.
Jennifer Collins: The American Public Power Association touched off quite a flurry. This week, the trade group urged lawmakers to bar the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases. Then, some lawmakers said association members complained of misrepresentation. So they told the trade group to basically back off.
Nick Braden: Well, we’re going to formally respond.
Nick Braden is with the association. He says this is all about who should regulate greenhouse gases. He wants Congress to pass rules, not the EPA.
Braden: We just believe that legislation is the better vehicle.
Lynn Best: We don’t see things the same.
Lynn Best is with association member Seattle City Light. She says the question is how fast to regulate.
Best: It looks like the legislation is going to take, unfortunately, a pretty long time. And we think this is too urgent and it’s too vital to wait.
She says global warming is drying up snow that feeds their hydroelectric dams. So the faster greenhouse gases are regulated, the better.
I’m Jennifer Collins for Marketplace.
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