The White House on Tuesday issued a statement opposing the House bill that would bar the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating greenhouse gases to combat climate change.
The Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011 (H.R. 910) could be voted on today and is expected to pass with unanimous support from the Republican majority.
The bill seeks to overturn the EPA’s findings that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide present environmental and health related risks. It is being sponsored by Fred Upton, Republican of Michigan, and Ed Whitfield, Republican of Kentucky. Upton, Whitfield, and their Republican colleagues believe new restrictions imposed by the EPA would raise taxes and send jobs overseas.
Though President Obama has not confirmed that he will veto, the White House expects that his senior advisors will recommend it. From the official statement:
“The administration strongly opposes House passage of H.R. 910, which would halt the Environmental Protection Agency’s common-sense steps under the Clean Air Act to protect Americans from harmful pollution. H.R. 910 would also increase the nation’s dependence on oil and other fossil fuels as well as contradict the scientific consensus on climate change. H.R. 910 would contradict public health experts and scientists and strip E.P.A. of its authority to develop sensible standards for currently unchecked carbon pollution and thus prevent E.P.A. from following its statutory obligations as interpreted by the Supreme Court.”
The EPA’s stance on greenhouse gases is backed up by forty years of scientific research. The proposed bill will limit the authority of the Clean Air Act and perpetuate our dependence on oil. Without regulation, the threat of global warming will increase putting our health and environment in peril.
Legislation identical to H.R. 910 has been introduced in the Senate by prominent climate change denier James Inhofe, Republican of Oklahoma.
