NCPA's Burnett Applauds President's Decision On Emissions Caps
DALLAS (March 15, 2001) — President Bush's announcement that the administration will not impose mandatory emissions reductions for carbon dioxide on the nation's power plants is good news for our nation's energy and environmental policy, according to H. Sterling Burnett, senior policy analyst with the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA).
Critics in the environmental movement charged that Bush's announcement signaled a reversal from his campaign position. However, as Burnett points out, had the president imposed the CO2 reductions, he would have reversed himself on two issues that are even more important – establishing a fiscally sound national energy policy and protecting our economy from the Kyoto Global Warming Protocol.
Said Burnett: "President Bush showed great wisdom and leadership in deciding not to allow the EPA to regulate CO2 as a pollutant. Demanding that utilities reduce CO2 emissions would have undercut the president's efforts to develop a national energy policy that reduces our reliance on foreign oil and gas supplies. And it would have put energy costs out of reach for many low-income Americans.
"Further, had Bush allowed the EPA to impose these regulations, it would have been tantamount to his unilaterally enacting the Kyoto Global Warming Protocol – which he has promised not to allow to become law.
"This decision shows that the president stands united with the Senate in opposition to binding the U.S. to a climate change agreement that would tie our hands while exempting some of the worlds worst polluters. To do so would hamper our ability to compete in the global market place, while doing almost nothing to prevent global warming."
Burnett specializes in environmental policy for the NCPA. Last year he was appointed as a member of the new Environment and Natural Resources Task Force in the Texas Comptroller's e-Texas commission, 2000. In addition to his role with the NCPA, he is also an advisor to the American Legislative Exchange Council's Energy, Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Task Force. He has appeared on such programs as the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Special Report with Brit Hume and on ABC Radio News. He is frequently quoted in some of the nation's leading publications and has written commentaries that have appeared in such publications as Environmental Ethics, USA Today, Los Angeles Daily News, The Washington Times, The Dallas Morning News, Rocky Mountain News, Miami Herald, and the Detroit News.