Class Year
2012
Document Type
Feature
Publication Date
2011
Abstract
A series of Republican-supported bills in the 112th Congress are aimed at preventing the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) from regulating the heaviest polluting industries in America. At the forefront is H.R. 97— short-titled the Free Industry Act—a bill introduced by Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and sponsored by 120 other representatives. H.R. 97 would amend the Clean Air Act (“CAA”) to exclude a series of greenhouse gases (“GHG”) from the list of pollutants that the EPA can regulate. Media sources have already pointed out that H.R. 97 will likely die in the Senate or by Presidential veto. Regardless, H.R. 97 indicates an agenda to impede EPA regulatory authority that could rise to the forefront should Republicans take control of Congress. The philosophy that undergirds H.R. 97 represents a paralytic force to U.S. climate change policy, and policymakers should begin drafting solutions now before H.R. 97 and similar bills become a reality.
Recommended Citation
Cedar, Oded. "Hazy Skies in America’s Future?: The Battle Between “Free Industry” And Clean Air." Sustainable Development Law & Policy 11, no. 2 (2011): 37, 85-86.