The New York Times (June 11, 2010) reports on the failure of a republican effort to block the EPA (environmental protection agency) in its efforts to regulate carbon emissions as a health hazard to humans
“Senate Republicans failed yesterday to halt the Obama administration’s plan to regulate greenhouse gases, engulfing the chamber in a sprawling daylong debate that bounced from climate skepticism to posters of dead birds smeared in oil.
The effort unraveled nearly seven hours after Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) launched her measure seeking to undo U.S. EPA’s scientific findings that carbon emissions endanger human health. It snagged on a procedural vote that fell four supporters shy of reaching the 51 votes needed to proceed, saving senators from a rare roll call on federal plans to reduce greenhouse gases.”
Senate republicans showed they were aware of the effect on public opinion of the gulf oil spill:
“Murkowski tried to frame the debate around jobs. She warned early in the debate that Democrats would use “misdirection” to describe her resolution as a payoff for Big Oil, a defense of the oil spill and an attack on climate science.
“These are red herrings,” she said, arguing that overreaching bureaucrats are the real problem. They want to “unilaterally” amend the Clean Air Act to regulate gases that Congress never intended to include in the law, Murkowski said.”