One of the most significant achievements of the Obama Administration has been EPA Administrator Lisa Perez Jackson's promulgation of a suite of rules
As I I diaried a few days ago, those regulations withstood the first chapter of an all-out court attack by big polluters, the Koch Brothers, Michele Bachmann, and various right-wing policy groups
But now the Senate is considering a legislative sleight of hand that would undo EPA's in one fell swoop -- preventing EPA's regulations (scheduled to take effect in January 2011) from taking effect, and preventing the agency from even studying what technologies are best suited to control GHG emissions for two years.
As detailed in this Politico article from today:
Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) is pressing forward on his drive to vote this month on his plan to delay Obama administration climate regulations for two years, threatening to go directly to the Senate floor and force a vote to include it in a catch-all spending bill.
Rockefeller has told Senate leadership "that he will insist on a vote" on his measure to block the Environmental Protection Agency global warming rules set to take effect next month.
"If left with no other option, Senator Rockefeller will seek to suspend the rules on the Omnibus Appropriations bill to bring up his legislation," his office said in a statement.
The Politico piece says that Rockefeller amendment is unlikely to pass this time, since it has the support of "only" 56 Senators (and 67 would be required to suspend the rules). That may be optimistic -- more importantly, a strong showing for this shameful and benighted piece of coal industry wish fulfillment would set a marker for the new Congress, where efforts to block EPA's efforts will come fast and furious.
Be aware of this -- contact your Senators right now. These GHG regulations are a huge step in the right direction, and are the product of a massive investment of public resources. Don't let polluters buy themselves a free pass by blocking EPA from enforcing the law of the land.
It is bad enough that the Senate failed to adopt legislation specifically targeting greenhouse gas emissions. It would be shameful indeed if that body were to block EPA even from enforcing existing pollution laws against greenhouse gas polluters.