Barton: EPA climate move 'discreditable'

Republicans continue to speak out against the so-called “endangerment” finding from the Environmental Protection Agency.

That decision allows EPA to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions under its existing authority granted by the Clean Air Act. The effort is seen as a way for the administration to prod Congress into passing a cap-and-trade bill or some other mechanism to control emissions in the face of the threat of climate change.

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), ranking member on the Energy and Commerce Committee, said on Thursday Republicans plan to introduce a resolution disapproving of the EPA’s decision.

“I want to announce that I and others on the Republican side will ask the House of Representatives to consider and pass a resolution strongly disapproving the discreditable decision by the Obama administration to outlaw carbon dioxide and with it, millions of jobs in America," Barton said in a statement.

“The Environmental Protection Agency’s endangerment finding plainly was intended to make the president’s policies look good in advance of his visit to the Copenhagen global warming conference, not to advance any public good in America, but it also has policy implications that threaten serious damage to the economy for generations to come.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the ranking member on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has also criticized the EPA decision.