Senate Proposals Would Restrict EPA's Regulation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Members of Congress are continuing a fight begun last year to block or delay Environmental Protection Agency rules that would limit greenhouse gas emissions.

Members of Congress are continuing a fight begun last year to block or delay Environmental Protection Agency rules that would limit greenhouse gas emissions. Most recently two senators, one from each party, introduced legislation that would accomplish that goal, and the mood in Congress may provide enough impetus to make passage a real possibility.

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) introduced a bill with several Republican colleagues that would prevent federal agencies from regulating emissions or considering climate change when implementing various environmental statutes.

According to a statement from Barrasso, the bill would prohibit greenhouse gas regulation under the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Endangered Species Act.

The bill would repeal a range of actions EPA has taken to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, including permitting requirements for emissions from new and modified large stationary sources that took effect Jan. 2. These rules have been challenged in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, but the court has rejected motions by petitioners to stay the rules.

The bill would strip from EPA any authority over regulating greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles. The bill also says the secretary of transportation's authority over vehicle fuel economy does not include any authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

Barrasso's eight co-sponsors thus far include Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee (and a possible presidential candidate in 2012), and Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the top Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee.

The bill's findings claim that controlling emissions would harm the economy, and also include a nod to skepticism about climate science, noting that earth's climate is "dynamic" and that changes stem from a "complex combination of factors."

Barrasso, in a statement, said Americans rejected cap-and-trade legislation (which collapsed in the Senate last year) because it would raise energy prices and cost jobs.

House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) is expected to introduce a companion bill in the coming week that is similar to Barrasso's bill but will focus more on the Clean Air Act.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) also introduced legislation that would prohibit EPA from taking any regulatory action regarding carbon dioxide and methane emission from stationary sources for a period of two years. "During that time no facility can be subjected to any requirement to obtain a permit or meet a New Source Performance Standard under the Clean Air Act with respect to carbon dioxide or methane," said Rockefeller in a statement.

"We must give Congress enough time to consider a comprehensive energy bill to develop the clean coal technologies we need and reduce our dependence on foreign oil, protect West Virginia and improve our environment," Rockefeller added. "We can address emissions and secure a future for the U.S. coal industry, but we need the time to get it right and to move clean coal technology forward."

Six centrist Democrats co-sponsored the legislation. They include: Sens. Jim Webb (Va.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Tim Johnson (S.D.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Ben Nelson (Neb.) and Kent Conrad (N.D.). 

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