OPENING STATEMENT
Sen. Jim Inhofe
Hearing on S. 556
November 1, 2001
When drafting S. 556, I am afraid that our Chairman
has not come close to fully considering all the issues associated with his
proposal. If such legislation is to
ever be enacted into law, the compromise, unlike S. 556, must contemplate and
balance our nation’s existing environmental achievements and energy supply and
security.
First, I believe S. 556 to be inequitable
to require an across the board reduction in pollutants when states, such as
Oklahoma, currently emit well below the national averages. According to EPA, Oklahoma is in
attainment with ambient air quality standards for all six criteria air
pollutants - carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, lead, PM, ozone and
sulfur dioxide. Let me specifically address
SOx, NOx, Mercury, and Carbon emissions in Oklahoma:
SOx: Oklahoma coal fired power plants had an
average SO2
emission rate, which is approximately half of the US national average coal
fired emission rate. As a result, Oklahoma
already over-complies with its Phase II Acid Rain program allocation by 27
percent.
NOx: Oklahoma’s coal-fired
stations had an average NOX emission rate of roughly 20 percent below the national
coal-fired emission and 10 percent below its 1995 average rate.
Mercury: According to EPA
Oklahoma mercury emissions from coal fired utility boilers are 1.8% of the
nationwide total.
Carbon: The regulation of CO2 would
make the price and availability of energy a national crisis B at a scale that our nation
has never before experienced.
Oklahoma's environmental profile mirrors
that of many western states. Oklahoma
does not have SOx, NOx, or Mercury problems.
Therefore, before we are asked to reduce our emissions even further,
other states in the Midwest and North East should be expected to get their
emission levels down to the levels cleaner states are today. It is ridiculous to impose percentage
reductions on us -- at enormous
marginal expense -- before those regions who have significant air problems do
their part.
Secondly, by limiting fuel options for
power generation, increasing the cost of electricity to Americans, and stopping
the construction of new generating facilities, S. 556 is the very antithesis of
sound national energy policy. Coal-fired units
provide 61.2 percent of the Oklahoma’s electric generation. S. 556 would significantly change the source
of energy in Oklahoma away from coal.
Oklahoma utilities depend upon coal for power because of its much lower
fuel cost versus natural gas and it’s a clean source of energy. Since fuel costs account for the bulk
of electric generating costs, Oklahoma’s coal use has kept power rates lower
than neighboring states of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Texas.
According to the US Department of Energy, Oklahoma
utility rates averaged 5.37 cents per kilo Watt Hour. That
is 19 percent less that the national average power rate. These utility rates are much lower than
states that depend heavily upon natural gas (e.g. New York, New Jersey, California ) or oil/renewables (e.g. Maine)
for generation.
When legislation is rushed
into effect without adequate thought, it is likely to do more harm than
good. Let=s not forget. When the price of energy rises that means
the less fortunate in our society must make a decision between keeping the heat
and lights on or paying for other essential needs.
As a Senator and
grandfather, I want to ensure the cleanest environment for our Nation. The real challenge with dealing with this
issue isn’t getting just environmental protection or just affordable
energy. The real challenge is getting
both. S. 556 does not even come close
to getting us both, and a compromise is a lot of hard work away. That is why, with so many enormous issues to tackle
pertaining to S. 556 or other similar legislation, I think a markup in the near
future would be a futile
and divisive exercise. Rather than simply marking
up a bill, which would be dead-on-arrival, a much more constructive exercise for the Committee
would be to work
on a compromise with Energy, Interior, and EPA and all the other relevant
agencies and stakeholders.