troutski
01-23-2010, 10:10 AM
This is a bit disturbing......
Alaska senator moves to limit EPA authority (https://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/22/MNUJ1BLRMG.DTL)
Alaska senator moves to limit EPA authority
John M. Broder, New York Times
Friday, January 22, 2010
(01-22) 04:00 PST Washington - --
In a direct challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency's authority, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, introduced a resolution on Thursday to prevent the agency from taking any action to regulate carbon dioxide and other climate-altering gases.
Murkowski, joined by 35 Republicans and three conservative Democrats, proposed to use the Congressional Review Act to strip the agency of the power to limit emissions of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. The Supreme Court gave the agency legal authority to regulate such emissions in a landmark 2007 ruling.
The agency has declared carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to be a threat to human health and the environment and is moving to write regulations to restrict emissions from vehicles, power plants and other major sources. The action could impose significant costs on the economy but would also rein in production of the heat-trapping gases that most scientists link to worrisome changes in the global climate.
Murkowski said EPA enforcement would mean businesses would be forced to close or move overseas, domestic energy production would be curtailed, housing would become more expensive and agricultural costs would rise.
Her resolution requires a majority vote in the Senate, a remote possibility because of the strong opposition of the Democratic leader, Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, and most other Democrats. It faces even longer odds in the House. And then it would require the signature of President Obama, who is all but certain to veto it.
Murkowski said that the Obama administration was using the threat of EPA regulation to force Congress to move quickly on broad energy and climate-change legislation, including a complex cap-and-trade program to limit carbon-dioxide pollution.
Murkowski, the senior Republican on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, has nearly unanimous Republican support in addition to the backing of the three Democrats: Sens. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Ben Nelson of Nebraska.
Her effort was applauded by industry, agriculture and energy lobbies.
Alaska senator moves to limit EPA authority (https://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/22/MNUJ1BLRMG.DTL)
This article appeared on page A - 12 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Alaska senator moves to limit EPA authority (https://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/22/MNUJ1BLRMG.DTL)
Alaska senator moves to limit EPA authority
John M. Broder, New York Times
Friday, January 22, 2010
(01-22) 04:00 PST Washington - --
In a direct challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency's authority, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, introduced a resolution on Thursday to prevent the agency from taking any action to regulate carbon dioxide and other climate-altering gases.
Murkowski, joined by 35 Republicans and three conservative Democrats, proposed to use the Congressional Review Act to strip the agency of the power to limit emissions of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. The Supreme Court gave the agency legal authority to regulate such emissions in a landmark 2007 ruling.
The agency has declared carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to be a threat to human health and the environment and is moving to write regulations to restrict emissions from vehicles, power plants and other major sources. The action could impose significant costs on the economy but would also rein in production of the heat-trapping gases that most scientists link to worrisome changes in the global climate.
Murkowski said EPA enforcement would mean businesses would be forced to close or move overseas, domestic energy production would be curtailed, housing would become more expensive and agricultural costs would rise.
Her resolution requires a majority vote in the Senate, a remote possibility because of the strong opposition of the Democratic leader, Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, and most other Democrats. It faces even longer odds in the House. And then it would require the signature of President Obama, who is all but certain to veto it.
Murkowski said that the Obama administration was using the threat of EPA regulation to force Congress to move quickly on broad energy and climate-change legislation, including a complex cap-and-trade program to limit carbon-dioxide pollution.
Murkowski, the senior Republican on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, has nearly unanimous Republican support in addition to the backing of the three Democrats: Sens. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Ben Nelson of Nebraska.
Her effort was applauded by industry, agriculture and energy lobbies.
Alaska senator moves to limit EPA authority (https://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/22/MNUJ1BLRMG.DTL)
This article appeared on page A - 12 of the San Francisco Chronicle