WASHINGTON — In a sharp challenge to the Obama administration, House Republicans intend to unveil legislation today to ban the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act and expect to advance the bill quickly, officials disclosed Tuesday night.
The officials said the bill would nullify all the steps the EPA has taken on the issue, including a threshold finding that greenhouse gases constitute a danger to the public health and welfare.
In addition, it seeks to strip the agency of its authority to use the law in any future attempts to crack down on emissions from factories, utilities and other stationary sources.
Many scientists say carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping pollution contribute to global warming, and attempts at regulating them are a major priority for President Barack Obama as well as environmentalists. Critics argue that the evidence is thin and that new rules will drive up the cost of business and cause the loss of jobs.
The officials who described the GOP plans did so on the condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to pre-empt the release of a draft measure prepared by the Energy and Commerce Committee, chaired by Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan.
The legislation marks yet another arena in which newly empowered House Republicans are moving quickly to challenge the administration.
Sworn into office less than a month ago, the House has already voted to repeal last year’s health care law and is advancing toward a series of expected confrontations with Obama over Republican demands for deep spending cuts. In addition, Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, recently announced support for legislation to restrict abortions.
A vote on the greenhouse- gases bill would occur first in the Energy and Commerce Committee and is expected this winter. The measure would then go to the House floor, where Republicans express confidence they have the votes to overcome objections by Democrats, many of whom are expected to oppose it on environmental grounds.
