Some Democrats are ecstatic over Friday’s Environmental Protection Agency ruling that greenhouse gasses are human hazards, a move that opens the door to future regulation if Congress doesn’t put legislation in place to curb carbon emissions.
Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., who heads a House committee on global warming, told reporters on Friday that the EPA’s action is “the environmental equivalent of what Brown v. Board of Education meant to our civil rights laws,” referring to the landmark Supreme Court ruling that essentially ended racial segregation in public schools.
“Just as that decision sparked a generation to alter our way of daily life, so will the decision made today be considered by future generations as pushing our nation into a new, clean energy direction that will improve our economy, our national security, our public health and our society,” Markey added.
Republicans, who have long resisted implementing such regulations out of fear it would weaken the economy, especially in poor states, were not too pleased with the news.
House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, callled the EPA move an abuse of the regulatory process and “nothing more than a backdoor attempt to enact a national energy tax that will have a crushing impact on consumers, jobs, and our economy.”
The House next week is planning hearings on energy legislation aimed a curbing greenhouse gasses through a “cap and trade” program that would limit emissions and charge money for those who exceed them.
Democrats have been divided on the issue, but those in favor of such regulations believe the EPA ruling will make energy reform a reality much faster.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., also applauded the EPA decision and said Congress wants to pass a global warming bill by the end of the year, but was more subdued than Markey, perhaps because many House Democrats are firmly opposed to cap and trade and she knows she will have a big fight on her hands starting Monday.
Pelosi said she wants a bill “that will include perspectives from across our nation to create jobs, improve our national security and reduce global warming.”
