120 Top Health Groups Want EPA To Regulate Carbon; Industry Wants Congress To Delay Agency's Actions
Some 120 of the nation's top health organizations want the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to move forward with its regulations of greenhouse gas emissions, but more than a dozen big industry lobbying shops want Congress to put the brakes on those plans.
The health organizations, which include the American Public Health Association, the American Nurses Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the American Lung Association, all signed a letter to President Obama, and members of the House and Senate.
That letter urges Congress not to stand in the way of EPA's intentions to regulate the emissions blamed for global climate change.
The letter notes that preserving the authority of the EPA to regulate global warming emissions is of paramount concern to the health of "children, older adults, those with serious health conditions and the most economically disadvantaged."
The joint letter states: "As public health professionals, we are writing to urge you to recognize the threat to public health posed by climate change and to support measures that will reduce these risks and strengthen the ability of our local, state and federal public health agencies to prepare for and respond to the impacts of climate change. In order to prepare for changes already under way, it is essential to strengthen our public health system so it is able to protect our communities from the health effects of heat waves, wildfires, floods, droughts, infectious diseases, and other events. But we must also address the root of the problem, which means reducing the emissions that contribute to climate change. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for protecting the public's health from climate change, and we urge you to fully support the EPA in fulfilling its responsibilities. We also urge opposition to any efforts to weaken, delay or block the EPA from protecting the public's health from these risks."
On the other side, a number of influential business groups -- including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- all want the Senate Appropriations Committee to insert language into a planned continuing resolution that would order EPA to delay its regulations. Their letters to lawmakers repeat the oft-stated refrain that such regulations would hurt the floundering U.S. economy.
The main goal of the continuing resolution would be to continue funding federal operations at current spending levels in order to prevent a government shutdown, until Congress can act on all of the pending appropriations bills.
The EPA is moving forward with plans that would, for the first time on a national scale, limit the carbon emissions that cause climate change. The agency is doing so under the Clean Air Act, authority given the agency by a 2007 Supreme Court ruling.
Dealing with climate change has been one of Obama's top priorities, although his efforts to pass legislation has been stymied.
The House approved cap-and-trade legislation last year which would regulate those emissions legislatively. But a similar bill has been bottled up in the Senate, and it doesn't appear the Senate will pass its legislation any time soon. Although Senate Republicans oppose climate legislation, several key Democrats also are against it, including Sen. Jay Rockefeller, whose home state is a major coal producer. The burning of coal is a significant contributor to carbon emissions.
The Senate, however, also narrowly defeated a resolution in June by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) that also would have prevented the EPA's carbon emissions plans.
"If EPA is allowed to impose these new rules, it could slam the brakes on our economic recovery," says Cal Dooley, president and CEO of the American Chemistry Council, one of the business groups seeking to block EPA regulations. "This will force the postponement of planned investments in new industrial facilities, meaning fewer jobs will be created and existing jobs will be lost. We simply can't afford this right now."
Other business leaders, however, agree with Obama and other proponents of climate regulation, who believe the reverse is true. A business coalition known as We Can Lead earlier this year pointed to a University of California study which found putting a price on carbon could generate nearly 2 million U.S. jobs.
A group of companies in Sen. Scott Brown's home state of Massachusetts put pressure on the freshman Republican to support a climate bill specifically for its ability to create jobs.
Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:
Bookmark http://onthehillblog.blogspot.com/ and drop back in for more news from the nation's capital.
The health organizations, which include the American Public Health Association, the American Nurses Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the American Lung Association, all signed a letter to President Obama, and members of the House and Senate.
That letter urges Congress not to stand in the way of EPA's intentions to regulate the emissions blamed for global climate change.
The letter notes that preserving the authority of the EPA to regulate global warming emissions is of paramount concern to the health of "children, older adults, those with serious health conditions and the most economically disadvantaged."
The joint letter states: "As public health professionals, we are writing to urge you to recognize the threat to public health posed by climate change and to support measures that will reduce these risks and strengthen the ability of our local, state and federal public health agencies to prepare for and respond to the impacts of climate change. In order to prepare for changes already under way, it is essential to strengthen our public health system so it is able to protect our communities from the health effects of heat waves, wildfires, floods, droughts, infectious diseases, and other events. But we must also address the root of the problem, which means reducing the emissions that contribute to climate change. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for protecting the public's health from climate change, and we urge you to fully support the EPA in fulfilling its responsibilities. We also urge opposition to any efforts to weaken, delay or block the EPA from protecting the public's health from these risks."
On the other side, a number of influential business groups -- including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- all want the Senate Appropriations Committee to insert language into a planned continuing resolution that would order EPA to delay its regulations. Their letters to lawmakers repeat the oft-stated refrain that such regulations would hurt the floundering U.S. economy.
The main goal of the continuing resolution would be to continue funding federal operations at current spending levels in order to prevent a government shutdown, until Congress can act on all of the pending appropriations bills.
The EPA is moving forward with plans that would, for the first time on a national scale, limit the carbon emissions that cause climate change. The agency is doing so under the Clean Air Act, authority given the agency by a 2007 Supreme Court ruling.
Dealing with climate change has been one of Obama's top priorities, although his efforts to pass legislation has been stymied.
The House approved cap-and-trade legislation last year which would regulate those emissions legislatively. But a similar bill has been bottled up in the Senate, and it doesn't appear the Senate will pass its legislation any time soon. Although Senate Republicans oppose climate legislation, several key Democrats also are against it, including Sen. Jay Rockefeller, whose home state is a major coal producer. The burning of coal is a significant contributor to carbon emissions.
The Senate, however, also narrowly defeated a resolution in June by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) that also would have prevented the EPA's carbon emissions plans.
"If EPA is allowed to impose these new rules, it could slam the brakes on our economic recovery," says Cal Dooley, president and CEO of the American Chemistry Council, one of the business groups seeking to block EPA regulations. "This will force the postponement of planned investments in new industrial facilities, meaning fewer jobs will be created and existing jobs will be lost. We simply can't afford this right now."
Other business leaders, however, agree with Obama and other proponents of climate regulation, who believe the reverse is true. A business coalition known as We Can Lead earlier this year pointed to a University of California study which found putting a price on carbon could generate nearly 2 million U.S. jobs.
A group of companies in Sen. Scott Brown's home state of Massachusetts put pressure on the freshman Republican to support a climate bill specifically for its ability to create jobs.
Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:
Bookmark http://onthehillblog.blogspot.com/ and drop back in for more news from the nation's capital.
Labels: climate change, environmental protection agency, job creation, public health
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