On Thursday, June 10th the Senate voted 53-47 against a resolution by Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) to disapprove EPA regulation of greenhouse gases (“GHGs”) under the Clean Air Act. Senator Murkwoski invoked a rarely utilized legislative procedure under the Congressional Review Act that would have required a simple majority of 51 votes. President Obama had already promised to veto the Murkowski resolution if it had passed.
Despite the fact that Murkowski garnered the support of six Democrats, many argue that the vote on the EPA disapproval resolution is not indicative of the Senate’s general posture toward enacting comprehensive climate change legislation. It is possible that votes for the Murkowski resolution were expressions against rulemaking by EPA under its existing Clean Air Act authority, and not necessarily an indication of how Senators would vote on comprehensive legislation. It has been reported that another vote on a proposal by Senator Rockefeller to delay EPA regulation of stationary sources for two years has been gaining support and may have been part of a compromise that led to the defeat of Murkowski’s resolution.
The EPA regulations, which will go into effect beginning in 2011 unless they are stalled by Congress or the courts, include a light-duty motor vehicle rule combining fuel economy standards with emissions limits to address the GHG emissions EPA found contribute to global warming in an endangerment finding published last year. Murkowski was also seeking to overturn EPA’s Tailoring Rule, published last week in the Federal Register, which phases-in regulation of GHG emissions from stationary sources and shields many small emitters from implementing best available control technologies when GHGs begin to be regulated.
For more information on emerging climate change law and policy, contact Jeff Gracer.
- Full text of the Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings (pdf)
- Full text of the Tailoring Rule (pdf)
- Full text of the Light Duty Motor Vehicle Rule (pdf)
- White House Press Release on the Senate Murkowski Resolution Vote
Maggie Macdonald is a summer associate at Sive, Paget & Riesel, PC.
