Scientist say, again, coal mining is too dangerous.
Doing his best Lisa Murkowski impression, Senator John Rockefeller, of coal-laden West Virgina, introduced legislation today that would prevent the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases for two years.
According to the story:
“We must set this delay in stone and give Congress enough time to consider a comprehensive energy bill to develop the clean-coal technologies we need,” Rockefeller said. The legislation would not delay regulation of vehicle emissions but would prohibit the agency from taking “any action under the Clean Air Act with respect to any stationary source permitting requirement.”
By stationary sources, he means power plants, specifically coal-fired ones, which emit the majority of the CO2.
For years Congress has considered climate legislation, with a bill proposed even under President George W. Bush. For the first time a bill passed the U.S. House in 2009. The issue is waiting on action in the Senate.
Meanwhile, the Obama administration has realized the urgency of regulating climate change causing greenhouse gases and the EPA is following a Supreme Court mandated charge to do so.
Per their usual antics, Big Oil and Dirty Coal interests are pushing legislation, like this one and the Dirty Air Act. Rockefeller hails from West Virginia, which has an economy largely based on coal.
However, even the Senior Senator from the state, who happens to be the longest serving member in the history of Congress, Robert Bird, has said the change will come to the state and the coal industry.
Instead of embracing that and helping shape it, Rockefeller and Murkowski are spending time regulating the regulators. Time that could and should be better spent passing clean energy and climate legislation.
