Just a few days after honoring war veterans who fought to
preserve America’s Constitutional order, Senate Democrats voted
down a resolution that would prevent unelected elites from
imposing costly new regulations without congressional approval.
Renegade federal agencies and judicial activists now have the
upper hand thanks to feckless federal office holders who
willingly surrendered their own constitutionally endowed
legislative authority.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R-AK) Resolution of Disapproval of the
EPA’s Endangerment Finding was defeated 53 to 47 this afternoon.
Only six Democrats joined with 41 Republicans to vote yes.
“Senate Democrats voted today to allow the Obama EPA to wreck
America through regulation of greenhouse gases. “Americans should
consider those who voted against the Murkowski resolution to be
enemies of sound science and economic recovery,” said
JunkScience.com’s Steve Milloy.
It is difficult to overstate how much this action endangers the
nation’s economic outlook and the financial security of
individual Americans. Bill Wilson, president of Americans for
Limited Government (ALG) has released the following statement:
“The Senate has just voted to affirm that the EPA should be able
to arbitrarily set the nation’s energy policy by imposing
unilateral restrictions on carbon emissions without any vote at
all in Congress,” he said. “This is a vote that will
assuredly lead to higher energy prices, lost jobs, lost business,
and the tyrannical imposition of a radical, environmentalist
agenda upon the American people.”
So long as the scientifically flawed endangerment finding remains
in place there is no limit on how intrusive and expansive the
EPA’s new regulatory regime can become.
For starters, the federal EPA and its state counterparts will
need to accommodate an estimated 41,000 Prevention of Significant
Deterioration (PSD) pre-construction permits annually as opposed
to 280 it currently digests and over 6 million Title V operating
permits per year versus 14,700.
This means a long and copious list of previously unregulated
entities such as office buildings, apartment complexes, small
manufacturers and small kitchens would come under government
control. To alleviate the backlog, the EPA has proposed a
“tailoring rule” to restrict the new regulations to large
facilities. This is problematic in that the rule may not be legal
under the CAA and could be overturned in court.
However, even if the tailoring rule withstands a legal challenge,
the EPA will proceed to regulate smaller emission sources within
a few years. This exercise cuts to the heart of why the Murkowski
resolution was so critical. Essentially, the EPA stands poised to
amend a statute without congressional consent in the name of
environmentalism.
Moreover, even if the courts uphold EPA’s tailoring rule it would
not offer any safeguard against what is arguably the most
pernicious aspect of the endangerment finding namely the
rulemaking that would set the National Ambient Air Quality
Standards (NAAQS) well below current atmospheric concentrations
for greenhouse gases.
The economic fallout would be devastating. The lowered CO2
targets favored by environmental pressure groups, which are in
the neighborhood of 390 parts per million to 350 ppm, would spur
a global depression. This would enable environmental activists to
use the CAA as vehicle for forced deindustrialization.
Murkowski’s resolution would have short-circuit the grand designs
of green activists.
American freedom suffered a terrible setback today that
desperately calls out for a constitutional revival. It will take
forceful leadership to restore our nation’s elected branches back
to their proper station. As Democracy gains ground in the Middle
East thanks to perseverance of U.S. soldiers, it is ironic to see
it lose ground here at home.
