Beam me to Planet Gore !
Posted on 01/30/2011 10:13:28 PM PST by Libloather
GOP sees looming 2012 elections as key to blocking climate rules
By Andrew Restuccia - 01/30/11 07:41 PM ET
Republicans are banking on the looming 2012 election to provide a political boost for their efforts to undercut the Environmental Protection Agency's pending climate change rules this year.
While a bill blocking EPA’s climate authority is likely to pass the House, the legislation faces an uphill battle in the Democrat-controlled Senate, as well as a potential veto from President Obama.
Still, Republicans are planning to push forward with the legislation, hoping that the threat of the 2012 elections will yield support from vulnerable Democrats in states that will be most affected by EPA rules. Even if the bill ultimately fails to become law, Republicans will attempt to force a vote on the issue in order to get Democrats on the record in anticipation of next year’s election.
“This is going to be a year to shape legislation in terms of the presidential race in 2012,” a Senate Republican aide involved with efforts to block EPA climate rules said, arguing that fears of repercussions back home may convince fence-sitting lawmakers to support the bill.
Republican plans to block efforts by the Obama EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions are quickly coming into focus. House Republicans, with House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) at the helm, will outline a plan to permanently block the agency’s upcoming climate rules in the coming weeks and Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) will introduce similar legislation on Monday.
"We're going to try to pass what we think is right out of the House. We're going to make every effort that we can do to get it through the Senate," Rep Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), who chairs a key House Energy subcommittee and is playing a major role in efforts to block EPA climate rules, told The Hill recently. "And if the president vetoes it, then one thing that's going to do is elevate these issues for the 2012 presidential election."
In order to improve the chances that the Senate passes the legislation, staff for key Republicans lawmakers in both the House and Senate are working together closely on strategy.
The Republican Senate aide said House lawmakers will work to pass their legislation first, with an eye toward finding some support among Democrats.
“An Upton-led bill supported by members in the Senate could gain some real momentum,” the aide said. “Having strong bipartisan support in the House would help in the Senate.”
The aide said Republicans are working behind-the-scenes to identify Democrats who could support the bill to preempt EPA’s climate authority.
“We know we have Democrats in the Senate that want to do something and there will be even more of a desire to get something done early, as opposed to debating it near the election,” the aide said.
But so far, there is little indication that Democrats like Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) who support a two-year delay in EPA climate rules would vote in favor of legislation to permanently block the agency’s authority. Rockefeller told reporters in the Capitol on Tuesday that he does not support such legislation.
Rockefeller will soon reintroduce his legislation delaying EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions for two years. “We will likely move on it shortly,” Rockefeller spokesman Vincent Morris said.
But another looming question is whether Republicans will support his bill or Barrasso’s. So far, it’s unclear where Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R-Alaska) support will fall. Murkowski tried and failed to pass similar legislation last year. Murkowski’s spokesman, Robert Dillon, told The Hill on Friday it’s “too early to say” whether the senator will support Barrasso’s bill.
Barrasso will introduce his legislation on Monday and Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) will co-sponsor the bill. Emily Lawrimore, a Barrasso spokeswoman, said there will be other co-sponsors, but she declined to name them.
Lawrimore said Barrasso hopes to move the legislation through the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “If it doesn’t progress in the committee, there are other legislative options,” she said.
Republicans are also mulling ways to overcome a veto from Obama. Another Republican aide closely involved in efforts to block EPA's climate authority said attaching such a proposal to must-pass legislation like a spending bill is one way of circumventing a veto threat.
Republicans will also continue to cast bills to block EPA's climate rules as essential for preventing further damage to the economy. "If the president wants to go against a majority of Congress and veto legislation to protect the economy, that’s his option," the aide said.
Bribe them. They'll take it.
Civility.
Shut down the corrupt EPA! Now!
Is defunding the EPA a possibility?
They'd better be sprinting for the finish line NOW or it'll be '4 more years'.
Alienating the TeaParty so a third party option is on the ballot spells an Obama reelection as Perot did for Clinton.
Good idea.
Why are they playing political games? Defund the EPA, DO NOT give them one dime to pay employees. SHUT EM DOWN. The country will go on as if they never existed.
The Pubes are playing political games, or at least contemplating them. We as a country are near total collapse....SHUT THEM DOWN.....Balance the budget this year, If it cannot be paid for out of the current taxing stream, it is an extra not needed.
An Upton-led bill? Maybe he’ll bribe them for support by including a phaseout of household refrigeration alongside that nasty incandescent bulb.
Defund the EPA now would be a better decision. They need to understand they can bask in the glory after they have done the job.
Just attach riders to the funding bill. No funding unless regualtions are repealed, EPA loses jurisdiction over greenhouse gases and all future regulations must be approved by 2/3 majority of both houses before they can be implimented!
No restrictions, no funding!!!
Professor Cornpone.
The problem with defunding an agency is that as soon as a different politician gets in he re-funds it. It becomes an issue for politicians to raise money, to fight over when other things are much more important. Why fight the same battles over and over again, only to watch the country burn to the ground while they do? The only way to cure the cancer of socialism, corporate fascism, is to CUT IT OUT. All the fancy regulations that business “hates” is nothing but a fun slalom to large and implanted corporations. The regulations are the gatekeepers price of playing the game, and that is not the way this country was set up. Every man an equal in opportunity, fair and impartial rules and politicians that SERVE US, not themselves and their friends. THAT is the country I love, not this tattered old oligarchy that needs citizens only as patrons or voters.
It’simple. Tell Obama to call off the dogs or he can forget raising the debt ceiling!
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