1. United States
2. N.C.
3. Letter

I am writing to ask you to examine the administration’s proposed rescission of the greenhouse-gas endangerment finding before supporting it, and to consider legislation preserving Congress’s ability to regulate dangerous pollution while requiring practical, technology-neutral standards for power plants. I recognize that our state needs more reliable and affordable electricity to support manufacturing, economic growth, and expanding demand. I also understand concerns that the Biden administration’s power-plant rules could impose excessive costs or accelerate coal-plant retirements before replacement capacity is available. Those concerns should be addressed by revising poorly designed regulations, not by eliminating the federal government’s underlying authority to regulate greenhouse-gas pollution. Rescinding the endangerment finding would go far beyond correcting a particular rule. It could limit Congress and future administrations from responding to new scientific evidence, technologies, or energy needs. Such a consequential decision should be made openly by Congress, not achieved indirectly through an agency’s attempt to erase the legal foundation for regulation. Please support a Congressional hearing and require EPA to provide a complete cost-benefit analysis that includes compliance costs, public-health effects, climate-related damages, fuel-price volatility, grid reliability, and impacts on ratepayers. Please also consider legislation affirming that greenhouse gases are air pollutants under the Clean Air Act and preserving EPA’s authority to regulate them when they endanger public health or welfare. The fastest way to add electricity capacity in many areas is to combine rapidly deployable renewable generation, especially solar, with battery storage, transmission improvements, efficiency, and other firm resources. The administration’s own investments in domestic batteries recognize their importance not only for electric vehicles, but also for data centers, manufacturing, drones, national defense, and energy security. Stationary storage can help meet peak demand, reduce fuel-price exposure, and strengthen domestic supply chains. This is not a request to endorse every Biden-era standard. It is a request to distinguish between improving a regulation and eliminating the government’s authority to act. Please preserve that authority while supporting standards that protect reliability, affordability, public health, and our state’s long-term energy security.