Michigan House Fires Shot in EPA’s War on Energy

Yesterday the Michigan House voiced its opposition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to side-stepping Congress by promulgating rules that regulate greenhouse gas emissions. House Resolution 19 was introduced by Rep. Aric Nesbitt and passed by a 65-44 vote. Resolution 19 asks Congress to ban the EPA from unilaterally imposing greenhouse gas emission regulations, strip the agency's funding for this, and impose a two-year moratorium on new air, water and waste management regulations except for in emergencies.

It is encouraging to see state lawmakers take a stand against actions being taken by unelected federal bureaucrats that pose a serious threat to jobs in Michigan. This past year, the U.S. Senate wisely killed legislation that would have limited greenhouse gas emissions through a cap-and-trade scheme. Federal lawmakers rightly understood that the costs to U.S. consumers and businesses were steep due to increased energy bills and would result in the loss of more U.S. jobs, while any impact on global warming was almost too small to measure.

The fact that Americans were being asked to undergo economic pain for little to no environmental gain has not stopped the Obama Administration from forging ahead with their plans to limit greenhouse gases — achieving their desired results through the EPA rather than Congress.

Although House Resolution 19 is non-binding, it and Senate Resolution 10, which was sponsored by Sen. Tom Casperson and passed on Feb. 16, are nonetheless important as they put elected officials in the state on record as opposing heavy-handed action by the EPA that threatens to further damage Michigan's fragile economy.

Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy are properly cited.