Senator Looks to Stop EPA from Regulating GHG
Murkowski announces disapproval resolution against EPA.
Compiled by staff
Published: Dec 16, 2009
After a failed attempt, Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has again moved to try to halt the Environmental Protection Agency's movement toward regulating the emission of greenhouse gases. Murkowski took to the Senate floor to express her concerns about an executive branch agency writing such regulations rather than Congress. She announced her intention to file a "disapproval resolution," a rare move that prohibits rules written by executive branch agencies from taking effect.
Still, it could be years before any EPA regulations take effect, and the White House has said it would prefer that Congress write the guidelines. If Congress doesn't act, the EPA's rules could set the standard for greenhouse gas emissions on the part of large emitters such as power plants, factories and other stationary sources of pollution. Murkowski said this issue endangers jobs, economic recovery and American competitiveness.
Murkowski, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said she remains committed to taking meaningful action to reduce the nation's greenhouse gas emissions. But she also took a shot at the timing of the "endangerment finding" by EPA, which made its announcement last week as thousands of people from 192 countries gathered in Copenhagen for the U.N. climate summit.
Permalink: Click here
Tagged: EPA, Environmental Protection Agency
|