Gene Green joins effort to suspend EPA regulations

Houston area Congressman

Vilas Bhuchar, Mar 14, 10.

U.S. House of Representative Gene Green of Houston cosponsored H.R. 4753, the Stationary Source Regulations Delay Act, on Thursday to suspend for two years potential Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations on greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources, according to Guidry News Service.

The proposed bill comes after the EPA, in December 2009, completed an endangerment finding for carbon dioxide, ruling that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health and public welfare. The finding obligated the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles under the Clean Air Act, and once these gases were “subject to regulation” under the Clean Air Act, the EPA would then also be required to regulate stationary sources of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Guidry story.

Under the proposed bill, stationary sources of greenhouse gas emissions would not be required to obtain a permit or meet a New Source Performance Standard under the Clean Air Act with respect to carbon dioxide or methane, notes the story. Furthermore, for two years after enactment of the bill, the EPA wouldn’t be allowed to take regulatory action against stationary sources, notes the story.

Instead, the U.S. Congress should play a role in setting energy policy, Green said:

“The U.S. Congress, not EPA, should develop energy policies that have far-reaching implications for consumers, chemical manufacturers, refiners, and other energy-intensive industries. This legislation calls for a ‘time-out’ from EPA regulations from stationary sources so elected representatives, not federal bureaucrats, can craft legislation to protect our environment and economy.”

Green’s proposal comes a little less than a month after the state of Texas challenged the EPA’s December findings, claiming they were based on flawed science, by filing a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals. State climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon subsequently disputed certain aspects of the petition by saying EPA findings “on the whole (they) constitute in my opinion the most comprehensive, balanced assessments of climate change science presently available.”

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(Photo credit: Gene Green, U.S. House of Representatives)