STATEMENT ON EPA'S CLEAN POWER PLAN 

BY JIM JESS, VICE CHAIRMAN, GEORGIA TEA PARTY, 

July 29, 2014 

My name is Jim Jess and I am Vice Chairman of Georgia Tea Party. 

Georgia Tea Party Inc. is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization based in Marietta, 

Georgia. Our mission statement is "To impact public policy by teaching all who seek 

to learn the principles and spirit of individual liberty and constitutionally-limited selfgovernment." 

Since 2009, we have educated and organized citizens and met with local, state and 

federal elected officials and candidates, informing them of our desire to restore our 

constitutional republic. We reach several thousand people through our email list, and 

about 50 activists are engaged with our various task forces. This past May, 

GAPundit.com referred to Georgia Tea Party as "one of the stronger and more 

effective Tea Party groups in the state." 

Georgia Tea Party opposes this overreaching and extreme Clean Power Plan rule 

and strongly urges you to withdraw it. Not only will it impoverish millions of 

ratepayers; it is unconstitutional. The president cannot simply impose his own 

policies because he lacks the skill to convince Congress of a desired course of 

action. The three branches of our government were constructed for a reason. 

The proposed rule is another example of this administration's abuse of its power. In 

the Constitution, in Article II, Section 3, the president is charged with the 

responsibility to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." Article I, Section 1, of 

the Constitution says, "ALL legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a 

Congress of the United States." 

This new rule is excessively legislative. It is not an implementation of any law that 

has been passed by Congress. This rule violates the separation of powers doctrine 

which is the underlying purpose of the three branches of our federal government. 

Our founders recognized that a chief executive should not have the power to impose 

his own laws. They had experienced too much of that with King George. They 

specifically delegated the legislative power-which is the power to establish policyto Congress. The president was given just 14 responsibilities in the Constitution, and 

none of them included domestic policymaking. The president may recommend 

legislation, but he may not impose laws without the consent of Congress. 

The Declaration of Independence says government must rule by consent of the 

governed. Our Constitution established a process to be followed when crafting new 
laws, and making laws is a responsibility of the legislative branch. When the process 

is followed, the consent of the governed is honored and liberty is secured. The 

executive branch may not impose its own rules just because it wants to. 

Our founders set up the three branches in a way that prevented any single branch 

from becoming so powerful that it could threaten the liberty of our citizens. That's 

why they separated the legislative function from the executive function. If these 

functions are merged so that executive and legislative powers are wielded by one 

agency or one person, liberty will not be secured. It will be violated. 

Your new rule violates American liberty in ominous and frightening ways. If a single 

agency can decree-without the consent of Congress-that the work and treasure of 

a private company, a public utility or a cooperative enterprise can be wasted to 

achieve a clean air objective that has negligible impact on the quality of the air, then 

we have entered a new era of tyranny. Because it won't be these companies that 

pay, it will be their ratepayers. 

I would very much like to see our nation spared your destructive rules. But if you 

insist on writing them, you will help us recruit. As you tighten the noose around the 

necks of the American people, we will organize. We will elect men and women to 

federal office who will shrink your budgets, hollow out your agency and return many 

of your agency's responsibilities to the states where they belong, as the Tenth 

Amendment requires. 

I urge you to withdraw this destructive rule. It is not worth any miniscule benefits it 

might achieve. Furthermore, the technology you are trying to force on the power 

industry, carbon capture and storage, is not yet a proven technology. This rule is 

foolish and wasteful. 

Listen to the American people and withdraw this rule. 

Jim Jess 

Vice Chairman 

Georgia Tea Party 

Co-Chair, Federal Task Force 

(770) 403-9853