GOP chairman challenges Obama environmental panel

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) is challenging the White House on the leadership of a key environmental advisory panel.

In two Friday letters to the Obama administration, the chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee questioned whether the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is allowed to continue operating; the Senate has not recently confirmed a full-time head for the panel. 

{mosads}“It appears that no one currently has the legal authority to lead or act on behalf to the Council due to the extended vacancy of a Senate-confirmed chairman, and that certain actions take by CEQ officials during this vacancy period are not legally valid,” Inhofe wrote in a letter to President Obama.

The then-chairman of the CEQ, Nancy Sutley, resigned her position in February 2014, and the agency’s chief of staff, Michael Boots, took over as the CEQ’s acting chairman. 

Boots himself resigned in March, and Christy Goldfuss took over as managing director.

In letters to Obama and Goldfuss, Inhofe said federal law only allows an acting CEQ director to serve in that capacity for 210 days, a term that ended on Sept. 21, 2014. He questioned the legality of the CEQ’s actions in the interim, and intends to probe the agency’s role in the upcoming United Nations climate conference.  

The absence of a confirmed chairman, Inhofe wrote, “raises significant questions regarding whether the Council itself, or any official leading CEQ since Sept. 21, 2014, is operating in accordance with the law.”

Inhofe is one of the most vocal critics of the Obama administration’s climate change platform and environmental regulations.

For his CEQ inquiry, he requested documents relating to greenhouse gas emissions, internal operations manuals and “calendar entries and other documents concerning CEQ’s involvement in the upcoming international climate negotiations.”

The Council on Environmental Quality coordinates federal environmental policy and works with government agencies to implement it. Its director advises the president on environmental issues and initiatives.

A CEQ spokesperson said officials are reviewing the letter but disagree with Inhofe’s suggestion that the Council is not operating legally.

—This post was updated at 8:35 a.m. Saturday