Upton, Inhofe to float plan Wednesday that blocks EPA climate rules

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) will unveil draft legislation Wednesday that would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, a GOP aide on the House panel said.

“The bill is a narrowly drawn, targeted solution that prevents the Clean Air Act from being transformed into a regulatory vehicle to impose a cap-and-trade energy tax,” the Republican Energy and Commerce Committee aide said. 

“The Obama administration will not be allowed to regulate what it has been unable to legislate,” adds the aide.

The comments reflect the widespread view among Republicans and many fossil fuel industry groups that regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the air law will harm the economy and eventually impose burdensome requirements on scores of facilities.

Cap-and-trade legislation collapsed on Capitol Hill last year, but EPA is acting under its existing Clean Air Act powers to begin phasing in rules to slow emissions from sources like power plants and refineries. EPA officials say they are using a moderate approach to stem emissions, and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has accused opponents of Clean Air Act rules of peddling in inaccurate "doomsday" rhetoric.

Inhofe is the top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and Capitol Hill’s leading climate skeptic.

Inhofe is also a co-sponsor of Sen. John Barrasso’s (R-Wyo.) sweeping new bill that would prevent the federal government from regulating greenhouse gases or taking them into account when implementing various laws, such as the Clean Air Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act.

This post was updated at 8:33 p.m.