David Skaggs: “stated very simply, this amendment would exempt clean air laws and regulations from this bill. Without this exemption…”

“stated very simply, this amendment would exempt clean air laws and regulations from this bill. Without this exemption, the bill, I think, will hurt the environment and actually unwittingly promote a kind of socialism in this country, a fact that may come as a surprise to my colleagues. I am utterly astonished at this, I assume, unintended consequence of the bill. But it would certainly be one of its effects, which I will explain in a moment. Clean air laws can be an unfunded mandate, primarily when local or State governments own and operate major sources of pollution. Just like other entities and persons, they run power plants, they drive vehicles, and operate other sources of pollution. State and local governments own almost 600 electric utilities, which generate something like 4 million tons of air pollutants a year. They operate untold thousands of motor vehicles. In my area in Denver, for instance, the regional transportation system has over 800 buses, and no one should doubt that they can be a source of air pollution. When Congress or the EPA adopts a nationwide air pollution standard, it applies to all power plants or landfills or all vehicles. Such a standard would be considered an unfunded mandate on States and local governments under the bill that is now before us.”