Gingrich has called for eliminating the EPA

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R), who will announce his candidacy for president this week, has called for abolishing the Environmental Protection Agency.

Gingrich, in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington in February, called for abolishing the EPA and replacing it with the “Environmental Solutions Agency,” which would focus on technology-driven solutions to addressing the country’s environmental woes.

The EPA, Gingrich said at the time, is “made up of self-selected bureaucrats” who are pushing regulations that would harm the economy.

Gingrich reserved particular animus for the agency’s climate regulations, which have come under fire from Republicans and some Democrats in Congress. The House passed legislation to block EPA climate rules, but the Senate failed to pass a similar measure.

Gingrich has also called for passing legislation to expand domestic oil-and-gas production, blasting the Obama administration’s offshore drilling policies.

For more on Gingrich's stance on energy policy, see this story.