Peterson moves to stop EPA from regulating carbon

Rep. Collin Peterson

Rep. Collin Peterson has introduced a “disapproval resolution” in an attempt to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating climate change emissions. Peterson said that “EPA bureaucrats” should not be put in charge of regulating greenhouse gases because it would harm the Minnesota’s ethanol industry. Environmental groups have dubbed Peterson’s bill the “Dirty Air Act.”

“The EPA is trying to use unwarranted regulatory action to go after greenhouse gas emissions without seeking Congressional approval,” Peterson said in a statement Friday. “The Clean Air Act was never meant to be used for this but they’re trying to do it anyway so Congress needs to act. Most everyone I’ve heard from about this thinks that elected officials — not EPA bureaucrats — should decide how to address our energy problems.”

Peterson introduced the resolution with Reps. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo. The resolution is identical to one introduced by Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, which was crafted, according to the Washington Post, with the help of Bush-era EPA officials turned energy industry lobbyists.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Environmental Health Network have come out in opposition to the resolution in a letter to the Senate (pdf).

Peterson’s resolution of disapproval would be a rare use of the Congressional Review Act of 1996 and would allow Congress to overturn EPA regulations.