Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), 46 Senate colleagues, and 44 House members on an amicus curiae brief filed in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the petitioners, including the state of North Dakota, in the pending case West Virginia, et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency.
The members agree the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acted outside its congressionally-directed authority by issuing significantly overreaching rules—namely the Clean Power Plan—to attempt to transform the nation’s power sector through emissions regulations under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act.
“If Congress had intended to give the EPA such sweeping authority to transform an entire sector of our economy, Congress would have done so explicitly. An administrative agency like the EPA may decide issues of such vast economic and political significance only when the agency can point to ‘clear congressional authorization.’
“Decisions regarding greenhouse gas emissions and the power sector are major policy questions with vast economic and political significance. Only elected members of Congress, representing the will of the people, may decide these questions. The EPA’s attempt to issue expansive regulations cannot stand in the absence of clear congressional authorization.
“Congress knows how to address greenhouse gas emissions. In recent years, Congress has decided to pass transformative laws that incentivize reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from a wide range of industries, including the electric power sector,” the brief states.
Senate cosigners of the brief include Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), John Boozman (R-AR), Jim Risch (R-ID), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Jerry Moran (R-KS), John Barrasso (R-WY), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Tom Tillis (R-NC), John Thune (R-SD), Richard Burr (R-NC), John Kennedy (R-LA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Josh Hawley (R-MO), John Cornyn (R-TX), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Tim Scott (R-SC), James Lankford (R-OK), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), John Hoeven (R-ND), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Mike Braun (R-IN), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Richard Shelby (R-AL), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Steve Daines (R-MT), Todd Young (R-IN), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Rand Paul (R-KY), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Rick Scott (R-FL).
House cosigners of the brief include Representatives Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Steve Scalise (R-LA), Fred Upton (R-MI), Michael C. Burgess (R-TX), Robert E. Latta (R-OH), Brett Guthrie (R-KY), David B. McKinley (R-WV), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Gus M. Bilirakis (R-FL), Bill Johnson (R-OH), Billy Long (R-MO), Larry Bucshon (R-IN), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Richard Hudson (R-NC), Tim Walberg (R-MI), Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-GA), Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Gary J. Palmer (R-AL), Neal P. Dunn (R-FL), John R. Curtis (R-UT), Debbie Lesko (R-AZ), Greg Pence (R-IN), Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), John Joyce (R-PA), Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), Troy Balderson (R-OH), Cliff Bentz (R-OR), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Tom Emmer (R-MN), Russ Fulcher (R-ID), Garret Graves (R-LA), Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), Dan Meuser (R-PA), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), Carol Miller (R-WW), Alex Mooney (R-WV), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Jay Obernolte (R-CA), August Pfluger (R-TX), Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), and Bruce Westerman (R-AR).