House rejects most Dem amendments to bill limiting EPA

The House on Wednesday night rejected all but one Democratic amendment to a bill that would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating greenhouse gas emissions. After the votes, the House moved to special-order speeches, leaving a vote on final passage of the Energy Tax Prevention Act (H.R. 910) until later in the week.

House Republicans accepted just one amendment, from Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.), that would specify that voluntary programs to address climate change are not prohibited by the bill. But they rejected all other Democratic amendments, including those that would require studies of the impact of the bill.

One of the more controversial amendments was offered by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), who proposed language saying Congress accepts the EPA's findings that climate change is happening and is caused by human activities. Democrats argued that Republicans are trying to deny the existence of climate change, while Republicans countered that this issue is irrelevant to the bill, and rejected it along with all the others.