Lisa Murkowski: “As we debate the provisions of the FY 1999 appropriations for the EPA and other agencies I would like to raise an issue…”

“As we debate the provisions of the FY 1999 appropriations for the EPA and other agencies I would like to raise an issue of concern. During a June 4 hearing before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, committee members explored the concern that this Administration has no real plan in place to assure that we will meet the nation's substantial and growing energy needs. In responding to this concern, Administration representatives, including a representative of the EPA, failed to mention that in addition to failing to plan for our growing energy needs, EPA had recently taken action that could further erode our capability to fuel our economic growth by a ``back-door'' attempt to regulate carbon dioxide. On June 2, only two days before this hearing, the EPA had published a notice in the Federal Register of its intent to modify a consent decree between EPA and the Natural Resources Defense Council, an organization with very strong views on global climate policy. The proposed modification would require EPA to analyze emissions reductions of CO<INF>2</INF> through its regulation of other emissions.”