Bill to Limit EPA's Power to Limit Gases Advances

A bill sponsored by Oklahoma Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe to strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its authority to regulate greenhouse gases as it addresses climate change passed a House subcommittee Thursday, the Tulsa World reported Friday.

The House Energy and Power Subcommittee moved the proposed measure onto the full House committee, which announced it would take up the bill next week.

Two other Oklahomans are advocating for the bill’s passage as well. Republican Rep. John Sullivan and Rep. Dan Boren, one of the few Democrats to support the legislation, are spearheading the measure.

"With fuel costs already on the rise, the last thing our country needs is for the EPA to implement regulations that will drive energy costs up and severely hamper small business' ability to grow and expand and create jobs,'' Sullivan said.

Sullivan warned that EPA regulation on greenhouse gases represents a back-door energy tax on Americans.

"This markup is our opening salvo to show the American people we mean business when it comes to growing our economy, removing job-destroying regulations and protecting American consumers at the pump,'' he said.