The purpose of this comment is to express Prime Mover Institute’s (PMI) support for the proposed amendment to the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lacks statutory authority for the GHGRP, as the Clean Air Act (CAA) does not authorize EPA to impose broad, continuous requirements for companies to report GHG emissions data. Additionally, the GHGRP violates the U.S. Constitution because it compels speech in violation of the First Amendment, and it runs afoul of the major questions doctrine and the non-delegation doctrine. Accordingly, this reporting program is unlawful, and EPA should amend it as proposed. And, when doing so, EPA should reiterate that this proposed amendment does not open the door for states to regulate GHGs. Rather, federal law still preempts this field, and any state attempt to regulate GHGs is preempted.
Those are reasons alone to amend the GHGRP. But EPA should also amend the program because it is redundant of other government programs, it imposes unreasonable financial and regulatory burdens on companies, and it undermines government efficiency.
At a time when the U.S. energy industry is competing for energy dominance, the GHGRP hampers the industry’s ability to win that competition. Accordingly, EPA should amend the GHGRP as proposed, thereby allowing the U.S. energy industry to flourish.