President Obama's so called Clean Power Plan is bad news for Greater Minnesota.
When fully implemented, it is expected to raise energy prices in Minnesota by 30 percent, cause job loss when local coal-fired power plants close and cost taxpayers serious money to ensure complex and burdensome federal regulations are met. If that's not enough, this plan will have no measurable benefit on the global environment according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which leads to the question of why are states being forced to comply.
In September, I, along with 43 fellow state legislators called on Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson to join 27 other states in an effort to stop the federal government from implementing this onerous new rule. Instead of joining our neighbors Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota in a bipartisan effort to ensure citizens have access to affordable energy, the attorney general is siding with special interests and pushing for these expensive new federal mandates. If this plan isn't stopped, the Midwest’s competitive advantage on energy costs will be erased, and it will cost you big. I am disappointed the attorney general sided against the interests of our state.
Currently, Minnesota ranks near the middle of the pack in national energy-cost comparisons, but we will be among the biggest losers when Obama's Clean Power Plan goes into effect, and this is especially true for folks outside the metro area. Our local electric co-ops and utilities are more dependent on coal and this plan punishes those who rely on it as their clean and reliable source of energy.
Minnesota taxpayers have spent billions of dollars over the past decade and the state has shown exemplary leadership to improve energy efficiency and protect our environment, but the federal government says our state's actions will be for naught. Under President Obama's new plan, Minnesota is expected to reduce carbon reduction by 40 percent by 2030—well above the national average of 32 percent. It seems our state is being punished for its investment and innovation when it comes to environmental protection.
This new power plan will affect everybody's pocketbook, hitting those who least can afford it the most. From our local schools and nursing homes to families to folks living on a fixed income, many rural Minnesotans simply can't afford this kind of rate hike.
I will continue to stand on the side of the ratepayer over special interests, and fight for the priorities of our state. We all want a clean environment, but unnecessary mandates from the federal government that repeatedly overstep state authority are not the answer.