Joseph Knollenberg: “I rise today to express my absolute disappointment, frankly disgust with the President's decision endorsing the EPA's…”

“I rise today to express my absolute disappointment, frankly disgust with the President's decision endorsing the EPA's stricter regulations on air pollution. The President says that the reason for imposing these new rigorous regulations was because he, and I, quote, thinks kids ought to be healthy. I agree with him. But I also think it is in the best interest of America's kids if their parents are able to remain employed. And frankly, the new proposals may in fact hurt our kids. The current clean air standards already require cities to have emission-control plans to ensure the air is cleaner each year. As stated in the June 24 Wall Street Journal, current emission control plans will be thrown out while the new ones are being written. This will actually slow, slow the clean air progress perhaps for years. And in the process our workers will be placed at risk. The unions know these standards will cost workers their jobs. That is why many are opposing the EPA's stricter standards. I think we need to ask ourselves, when is enough enough? How many jobs must we lose to clean up the air more than it is? There is a point of diminishing returns where the cost far outweighs any benefits. Mr. Speaker, the Browner-Gore-Clinton EPA standards reaches that point. We have made great progress in the last 20 years. Today the air is cleaner than it has ever been. When our current standards were put in place, the majority of our States and communities could not comply.”