RSSShould EPA or Congress set CO2 limits?
While Sen. Lisa Murkowski's (R-Alaska) amendment to bar the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act narrowly failed, sources indicated the Democratic leadership will allow John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WVa.) to offer a similar amendment later this summer. Should EPA keep pressing ahead with new greenhouse gas rules, or should it accept Congress will shape the future of any mandatory limits on carbon dioxide?"
Whatever works, just do it
The period from January to May was the warmest on record. Hello! Whether Congress or EPA, the only path that is unacceptable is inaction.
EPA should proceed with market-based regulations
The EPA can and must proceed with new rules--but it must do so using market-based mechanisms that will not clash with possible future congressional actions. It is bound by law to proceed, but it can move wisely by laying groundwork that will come at the lowest possible costs to business and will mesh well with the legislation Congress will hopefully enact someday soon.
Energy policy is beyond EPA's mission
The first thing that Congress should now do is to make its intent clear by legislative action, either by passing Senator Rockefeller's proposal or using the appropriations process to deny EPA funds to regulate CO2.
It's about carbon, not Congress
So the good news, I guess, is that Murkowski's resolution went down. The bad news is that in a 60-vote Senate, it's hard to imagine a climate bill, or even a mere energy bill that does something about coal-fired plants, getting through.
EPA is an expensive fallback
The EPA route isn't going to be the best way to do it because it may well result in higher costs for the economy than is actually necessary to reduce emissions.
jfv123: EPA bureaucrats won't have the guts to regulate carbon.
The'll be out of their cushy jobs when Congress refuses to appropriate funds for EPA...
Pilot1: This is ridiculous. We have a bunch of ideologues at EPA who based on the flawed theory of Global Warming want to regulate CO2 which is a na...
