On the recordMarch 5, 2014
I thank the chairman of the Science and Technology Committee, congratulations on yesterday. Sort of a one step off, I lost the ranking member. I was going to congratulate him on his years of service now that his decision is to leave the body. I am obviously standing here with two separate points I want to make. One is, I actually believe the underlying bill has been substantially misrepresented. If you take the totality of the Clean Air Act, NO<INF>X</INF>, and all the other pollutants that are regulated, that is not what this piece of legislation touches and does. Be that as it may, I am here to stand up and advocate for amendment No. 1, which is very simple in its elegance. It does a very simple thing. It says, this bill is not only a discussion about coal, but it is actually a discussion about all fossil fuels. If we are going to have a regime mechanic that says this technology, once it is properly demonstrated is appropriate to adopt, should not that demonstration be on other forms of fossil fuels that may be generating power? In many ways it is that concept of sort of optionality. If we are going to create a silo that says hey, these mechanics are only about coal, that is unfair. It should be about all forms of energy, because you would hate to find out, a year or two from now, that the bright, shiny object that I believe the EPA is often chasing has moved to something else, and we have allowed a hole here in our amendment process.
