Pelosi: Congress must move on climate

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday that Congress, not the
Obama administration, needs to address global warming.

Asked if she wants the Obama administration to address climate change
through regulations if Congress fails to pass a bill this year, Pelosi
responded, “It has to be done by statute.”



Pelosi told The Hill
that stakeholders need some level of certainty so U.S. policy on climate
change does not fluctuate when administrations change. She did note,
however, that the Obama administration “can do some things
administratively.”



Through various regulatory actions, the Obama administration has kept pressure on Congress to tackle climate change this year. But Pelosi and other legislators have argued that the legislative branch has to address the issue.

Her comments come a week after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency took a big step toward regulating industrial greenhouse gas emissions. The agency issued rules that describe how it will apply the Clean Air Act to big facilities like power plants and oil refineries starting next year.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the co-author of Senate climate legislation, hopes the new rules bolster political support for his bill. Kerry and other climate advocates say Congress can give various industries far more flexibility and assistance than EPA is currently authorized to provide.

“Today we went from ‘wake-up call’ to ‘last call’ on the urgency of Senate action on comprehensive energy and climate legislation. The Obama Administration has again reminded Washington that if Congress won’t legislate, the EPA will regulate,” he said when EPA issued its rule May 13.

But the looming EPA controls have also prompted many Republicans and some centrist Democrats to push bills that would suspend or reverse EPA’s power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under its current powers.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) intends to force a Senate vote in the coming weeks on a plan that would block all EPA climate rules. Her resolution under the Congressional Review Act could not be filibustered, but would face a near-certain veto even if it cleared Congress.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) has circulated a less sweeping plan that would block EPA regulation of stationary industrial sources like power plants and factories for two years.