Ed Whitfield: “I would point out once again, as I did in the beginning of this debate, that the Constitutional law professor Jonathan…”

“I would point out once again, as I did in the beginning of this debate, that the Constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley, testifying before the Judiciary Committee, recently made the statement that: If left unchecked, the United States President could effectively become a government unto himself because of excessive executive orders and excessive regulations. The only reason that we are here today is that the President, without any really national debate, went to Copenhagen and other international groups and made commitments for the U.S. on the reduction of CO<INF>2</INF> emissions. In the energy sector, our emissions are the lowest that they have been in 20 years. If EPA had adopted emission standards and technology was available that had been adequately demonstrated to meet those standards, we wouldn't have any problem, but they did not do that. In fact, they violated the 2005 Energy Policy Act in setting these emission standards. We tried to talk to EPA; we tried to talk to the President; we tried to talk to his representatives; and we got the cold shoulder. So the only option available to us in trying to overcome these executive orders and regulations is to adopt some legislation. In our legislation, we don't expect a coal plant to be built, but if natural gas prices go up, America--like every other country in the world practically--will be able to build a coal plant, and the technology will be available to meet those emission standards.…”