House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) on Monday slammed the new rules proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency to curb carbon emissions.
“The president’s plan is nuts, there’s really no more succinct way to describe it,” Boehner said in a statement. “Americans are still asking ‘where are the jobs?’ and here he is proposing rules to ship jobs overseas for years to come.”
The proposed rules would set limits on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, aiming to reduce emissions by 30 percent by 2030. According to the Wall Street Journal, states will likely have the option to set up a cap-and-trade system, which would allow companies to buy and sell emissions allotments from each other.
Boehner criticized the rules as tax, referencing what some power plants may need to pay for emissions allowances.
“In many ways, this national energy tax is actually worse than the scheme Americans rejected four years ago,” he said in his statement. “While the president may have kept his promise to make prices ‘skyrocket,’ it doesn’t have to be inevitable.”