House Republicans ask White House to kill climate rule

February 2, 2012

House Republicans who have spent a year pushing bills to thwart or delay Environmental Protection Agency greenhouse gas rules are trying a new tactic: simply asking the White House to scuttle them.

The Energy and Commerce Committee’s top Republicans on Wednesday asked the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to nix EPA’s upcoming greenhouse gas standards for new and modified coal-fired power plants.

OMB has been reviewing EPA's draft rules since early November, and they're slated for release soon.

“Further increasing electricity costs by requiring commercially unproven technologies, or forcing a transition away from coal, will send thousands more U.S. jobs overseas at a time when the nation can least afford it,” states a Feb. 1 letter from Energy Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) to acting OMB Director Jeffrey Zients. READ MORE