In a letter to the Pennsylvania Environmental Council Wednesday, Gov. Corbett offered an explanation for why he signed House Bill 2354 (Snyder-D-Fayette), which authorizes a one-House of the General Assembly to veto any greenhouse gas emission reduction plan required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, into law--
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rulemaking regulating carbon emissions from existing stationary sources is widely regarded as one of the most impactful standards to be handed down by the federal government in a generation.
“In addition to the environmental impacts cited by the EPA, this rulemaking may have substantial affect on the Commonwealth’s economy, residential and business electric consumers and the strength and reliability of our electric transmission and distribution grid.
“Carbon is also unique in comparison to most other pollutants regulated by the Commonwealth, as the vast majority of pollutants regulated pose a direct human health hazard that can be based upon an ambient air quality standard.
“Conversely, carbon was not an emission that has generally contemplated to be regulated when either the federal Clean Air Act or the state’s Air Pollution Control Act was enacted.
“As such, I believe there is an appropriate role to be played by the elected members of the General Assembly, in partnership with the Executive branch, as the Commonwealth crafts the best plan possible for the citizens of Pennsylvania.”
