Letters
Letter to CEQ on GHG Requirements Driving Up Energy Costs, and Jeopardizing Jobs, Infrastructure, Energy Independence, and National Security
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) argues that new greenhouse gas (GHG) guidance from the Biden Administration’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) seeks to erect new, vague, duplicative, and complicated barriers for major energy infrastructure development in the United States. These requirements will create more regulatory uncertainty for agencies and the private sector, further jeopardize U.S. energy independence and national security, and increase energy costs for all Americans, Graves detailed in a new letter to CEQ.
Chairman Graves sent the letter in response to CEQ’s January 9, 2023, notice of interim guidance seeking public comment on new requirements for considering GHG emissions pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The NEPA process is frequently used to delay or stop crucial infrastructure growth, and adding new GHG requirements on top of NEPA will further slow projects, increase energy costs, and threaten jobs. Graves urged CEQ and the Administration to instead focus on streamlining and modernizing NEPA, as is proposed in H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act. |