Republican rips administration for no-shows at climate change hearing

Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) lambasted the Obama administration Tuesday for only sending two officials to testify this week about the president’s climate change regulations.

Whitfield, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce’s subcommittee on Energy and Power, is set to convene a hearing Wednesday to take stock of President Obama’s climate plan. The hearing comes more than a month after the lawmaker sent requests to the top 13 federal agencies, asking their leaders to testify.

{mosads}Just two officials, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, have agreed to appear at the hearing.

“What does it say about an administration that is largely unwilling to testify on its top policy initiative?” Whitfield asked.

“More than $77 billion was spent between 2008 and 2013 across the government on climate activities, and yet the ‘most transparent administration in history’ can only find two people to testify from these agencies that employ tens of thousands of employees and receive significant funding for climate change related activities.”

During his inauguration in January, Obama announced plans to make the push against climate change a central part of his second-term agenda. Substantive legislation on the issue is a nonstarter in the divided Congress, so the president has elected to move forward via regulation.

The administration is set to take a major step forward this week on his plan’s centerpiece: greenhouse gas limits on new and existing power plants. A rule detailing revised draft standards for new plants is expected to be issued Friday.

The regulations have major implications for the energy industry. Whitfield contends that taxpayers also have plenty at stake.

“It is appropriate for Congress to conduct oversight of the plan, as well as of the administration’s current climate activities for which billions of dollars are being spent annually,” he said.