Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) is introducing his Climate Change Pre-emption bill, an initiative that would prevent the EPA and other such agencies from unilaterally regulating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions without explicit Congressional Authorization. Sen. Barrasso’s legislation looks to put an end to runaway regulation dictating the nation’s energy and industry policy. It has four main goals: 1) To prevent the federal government from applying outdated environmental laws to climate-change issues. 2) To restore and preserve the role of the Congress as the most important body in determining U.S. climate and energy policy. 3) To forbid, in absence of explicit Congressional Authorization, federal regulation of GHG under the rubric of climate change. It would pre-empt possible applications of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, National Environmental Policy Act, etc. 4) To preclude legal action against emitters of GHG based simply on their supposed contribution to climate change. Unfortunately, there are some lawmakers on Capitol Hill who are more than happy ceding their power to unelected bureaucrats: Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) is dead-set on giving the government to them through the creation of yet another federal agency, the Clean Energy Deployment Administration (CEDA). He has also supported the imposition of Clean/Renewable Energy Standards, which would constitute another massive interference with American industry. Bingaman’s proposed Energy Efficiency Enhancement Act seeks to dictate standards for common light-bulbs and appliances; as with all of these proposals, it smacks of more spending, bigger government, and an outdated, unscientific attachment to a radical “green” ideology. Each of these policies would put undo strain on an already fragile economy, while stretching the effects of the federal nanny-state into every American home. As far as Bingaman and his allies in the Senate are concerned, there is no appliance too small to warrant bigger government...
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