NEW LEGISLATIVE EFFORTS SEEK TO HALT EPA CLIMATE CHANGE EFFORTS
News Date January 26, 2010
On January 21 Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced a resolution of disapproval to stop the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from continuing their efforts to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. With nearly all Republican Senators signing on as cosponsors, Sen. Murkowski also found three critical Democrats to join on the resolution. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), who is currently engulfed in a tough reelection campaign, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) are the Democratic Senators to sign on. With the resolution of disapproval ultimately having to be signed by the President, the realities of it becoming law are extremely slim. Nevertheless, President Barack Obama has said he supported attacking climate change through the legislative process, not through regulation. Similar efforts to prohibit further action by the EPA are underway in the House of Representatives, as Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) introduced the Save Our Energy Jobs Act (H.R. 4396) earlier this year.
Meanwhile, following the findings of a report produced by Informa Economics, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is now officially opposed to the climate change legislation passed by the House of Representatives last year. Prior to last week’s announcement, the NCGA has been ‘neutral’ on the bill. (Contact: David Hickey