As approximately eighteen states were marking the one-year anniversary of Massachusetts v. EPA by filing a lawsuit aimed at enforcing the Supreme Court's mandate, members of Congress from two of those states were busy filling parallel legislation. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) would require EPA to issue an endangerment finding along the same timeline that the states are asking for in court. The bill's main provisions, as described bY Senator Feinstein's press release, follow:
- Within 60 days of enactment, EPA must comply with the Supreme Court’s Massachusetts v. EPA ruling to complete an endangerment finding to determine whether the emissions of greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare, and then comply with the Clean Air Act requirements that result from this determination.
- No later than June 30, 2009, EPA must reconsider its decision to deny the State of California a Clean Air Act waiver that would have allowed the state to limit tailpipe greenhouse gas pollution from cars and trucks.
Over on the House side, Reps. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Hilda Solis (D-CA) have just announced a bipartisan resolution highlighting the link between global warming and public health, and will hold a hearing on that topic Wednesday to mark National Public Health Week (which has a climate change theme this year).
This is, of course, far from the only legislation that the 110th Congress has introduced to counter the Bush administration's climate-related obstructionism. Legislation in both chambers has sought to overturn EPA's California' waiver ruling outright, while other bills have sought to implement a near-term moratorium on new coal plant construction, force the EPA to regulate CO2 emissions from large ships, and rectify the administration's delays in listing the polar bear as an endangered species.
While couldn't cite travel to Australia as an excuse, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne nevertheless was a no-show at a recent Senate hearing about the latter issue, at which an administration-friendly witness attempted to deny scientific evidence that polar bears are in trouble (though at least he didn't accuse the bears of being man-eaters, a la Glenn Beck).
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