House Energy and Commerce Committee chair Fred Upton (R-Michigan) and Sen. James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) announced draft legislation that would repeal a scientific determination that carbon pollution poses threats to public health and the environment, strip EPA’s statutory authority and responsibility to regulate carbon pollution from sources like power plants and oil refineries, overturn the landmark Supreme Court case, Massachusetts v. EPA, and prevent carbon emission standards for cars and trucks from ever being strengthened or revised.

The Washington Post reported today:

House GOP readies bill to prohibit EPA from regulating carbon emissions

Acting on a vow to fight the Obama administration on climate issues, Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, unveiled draft legislation Wednesday to try to strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its power to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.

Sen. James M. Inhofe (Okla.), ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), chairman of the subcommittee on energy and power, joined Upton in issuing what they called the Energy Tax Prevention Act. …

The EPA issued a finding in late 2009 that said greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming endanger the public’s health and welfare. Last month, the agency told industrial facilities such as power plants, oil refineries and paper mills that require permits to emit sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide to also account for greenhouse gas emissions if they expand or add construction that significantly increases greenhouse gas pollution.

Republicans, many of whom doubt climate-change science, say the regulations hurt the ability of U.S. manufacturers to compete against companies in countries with relaxed standards.

Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Rep. Henry Waxman (D-California) said:  “The Republicans have a lot of power, but they can’t amend the laws of nature. Gutting the Clean Air Act is only going to make our problems worse. …”

A statement by the Project on Climate Science includes this:

The Project on Climate Science finds it incomprehensible that, as they develop policy options to address our nation’s energy and climate challenges, some Members of Congress are seeking to turn science on its head by launching an assault on the Clean Air Act – the very law that protects us from the serious threat carbon pollution poses to our health and our national and economic security.

The draft legislation, “The Energy Tax Prevention Act,” would overturn the EPA’s 2009 scientific finding that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare – a finding that was reached after EPA scientists carefully reviewed the evidence. …

As noted today by the American Lung Association, the Clean Air Act guards the most vulnerable Americans – those with asthma and other lung diseases, children, older adults, and people with heart disease and diabetes. The association declared, “The protections against the health harm from carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas pollution are essential to public health and must be preserved.”

The bill, which refers to “possible climate change,” embodies a blatant disregard for scientific fact. …

“Energy Tax Prevention Act” Discussion Draft, February 2, 2011

Good media criticism by David Roberts at Grist on coverage of Republican rhetoric about their legislation:  ‘Objective’ political media helps Inhofe lie about EPA

Earlier posts:

House Republicans prepare to attack EPA greenhouse gas rules

The Importance of Science in Addressing Climate Change: Scientists’ letter to the U.S. Congress

Sen. Inhofe inquisition seeking ways to criminalize and prosecute 17 leading climate scientists