Senate backs EPA on greenhouse gases
WASHINGTON -- A Senate vote last week allowed the Environmental Protection Agency to move forward with new rules to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
Senators voted 53-47 to set aside a resolution that would have stripped the EPA of its authority to set controls for carbon dioxide and other gases that contribute to global warming.
Specifically, the resolution by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, would have overturned a 2009 EPA finding that greenhouse gases are hazardous to human health.
Such a finding allowed the agency to invoke the Clean Air Act as a basis for further action. It has proposed that large emitters such as oil refineries and coal-fired power plants be subject to further regulation.
The debate showed a Senate split over how to proceed on climate change, even as a majority say they recognize its dangers. Six Democrats joined Republicans to support the Murkowski resolution.
EPA rules would create "an economic train wreck," Murkowski said. She argued that Congress and not bureaucrats should take the lead in crafting energy and climate policies.
But Democrats accused Republicans of being disingenuous because many of them oppose far-reaching climate change legislation. The vote raised questions about whether the Senate can pass a comprehensive strategy on climate change that President Barack Obama has urged.
Democrats said the Murkowski resolution ignores the science that says carbon emissions are dangerous.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, said "unchecked carbon dioxide emissions endanger human health and welfare. Frankly, I thought that debate was over. Climate change is happening. The science is convincing. The current pattern of energy consumption is just making a bad problem worse."
Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., voted for the Murkowski resolution. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., voted against it.
Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.
