Cramer Applauds Repeal of Endangerment Finding

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, issued the following statement after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)proposedto repeal the 2009 endangerment finding. The finding, issued in the first year of the Obama administration, concluded current and projected greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations, predominately carbon dioxide (CO2), endanger public health and welfare. It is the cornerstone of novel efforts to mandate declining GHG emissions, including both iterations of the Clean Power Plan and vehicle emission standards under the Obama and Biden administrations. These rulemaking processes have repeatedly been struck down by the courts and have never been specifically authorized by Congress.
“EPA Administrator Zeldin and President Trump certainly got this one right. They listened to the voice of reason and they clarified the role of the endangerment finding in our energy and environmentalpolicy,”said Cramer.“Congress, the voters, and theSupreme Courtcertainly have all repeatedlyweighed in and rejected the heavy-handed,command and control approachthat the Obama and Biden administrations mandated when they relied upon this flawed endangerment finding and they used it to upend American energy. Power plants in the United States are really only responsible for a very small and a declining percentage of global greenhouse gas concentrations. Their contribution, frankly, is dwarfed by the emissions from large polluting countries like China and India where they are building new power plants at a very rapid pace. And by the way, their power plants don’t have the technology that actually reduces greenhouse gas emissions like we do. Increasing energy costs, decreasing grid reliability, and kneecapping economic competitiveness is really the real danger here that we have to avoid. Thanks again to Administrator Zeldin and President Trump for recognizing America’s energy excellence. I encourage North Dakotans and Americans, but I really want North Dakotans to make their voices heard throughout the public comment period as they draft new rules”.
The shale gas revolution, President Obama’s war on coal, and increasing global industrialization have caused the United States’ share of global CO2emissions to be lower now than it was when the endangerment finding was issued, and it continues to decline. United States annual CO2emissions, and per capita CO2emissions, follow a similar downward trajectory even in the absence of a binding GHG rule. By 2050, U.S. contributions from power generation are expected to be less than one-fifth of one percent and the difference in global temperature would be less than one-tenth of one percent.