Washington – Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs of leading U.S. companies, today strongly urged the Obama Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to abandon their efforts to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from stationary sources under the Clean Air Act in order to give Congress the time it needs to develop an appropriate legislative solution that will address the risk of climate change while preserving U.S. economic growth and international competitiveness.

“Regulating GHG stationary source emissions under the Clean Air Act – which is not optimally designed for controlling globally distributed emissions that are produced by nearly every form of economic activity – is an example of damaging regulatory overreach that threatens to stifle U.S. economic growth and job creation,” said Thomas Fanning, Chairman and CEO of Southern Company. 

The EPA’s current GHG stationary source rules, the first of many iterations of an extensive, ongoing rulemaking process, would require case-by-case technology reviews for new or expanded U.S. industrial facilities. Businesses will find it hard to invest in new or expanded facilities when the regulatory requirements are so uncertain.

“America’s business leaders believe in a smarter approach to regulation that takes account of the total burden on jobs and the economy. GHG stationary source emissions require a legislative solution, not regulations based on a law that was created before the effects of such emissions were understood,” said Business Roundtable President John Engler.