Bill Text: MS HC93 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Greenhouse gases; support congressional action on.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Failed) 2010-04-28 - Died In Committee [HC93 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2010-HC93-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2010 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Representatives Ellington, Howell
House Concurrent Resolution 93
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ACKNOWLEDGING AND EXPRESSING THE NEED FOR A FAIR AND EFFECTIVE APPROACH FOR CLIMATE AND ENERGY SUPPLY ISSUES WITHIN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
WHEREAS, the Mississippi House of Representatives supports the adoption by the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives of Senate Joint Resolution 26 disapproving a rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) relating to the endangerment finding and the cause or contribute findings for greenhouse gases under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act, 42 USCS 7401, and requests that Mississippi's congressional delegation support the adoption of the joint resolution; and
WHEREAS, we need a fair and effective approach for climate and energy supply issues facing the United States of America, and in recognizing this need, we are requesting that the United States Congress provide a fair and effective approach for climate and energy supply issues that safeguards American jobs, ensures affordable energy for America and maintains America's global competitiveness; and
WHEREAS, EPA's plan to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from new cars and light trucks will trigger the same regulation of such emissions from stationary sources, such as manufacturing facilities, power plants, hospitals and commercial establishments; and
WHEREAS, on April 17, 2009, the EPA formally issued an endangerment finding declaring carbon dioxide and five other heat-trapping gases to be pollutants that endanger public health and welfare under the Clean Air Act; and
WHEREAS, on January 21, 2010, a bipartisan group of 39 United States Senators introduced a disapproval resolution, Senate Joint Resolution 26, pursuant to the provisions of the Congressional Review Act to stop the EPA from regulating carbon dioxide emissions under the Clean Air Act, 42 USCS 7401; and
WHEREAS, the EPA's efforts to impose back-door climate regulations with no input from Congress will not only add a thick new layer of federal bureaucracy, but also serve to depress economic activity--to slow it down, to make it more expensive and to render it less efficient; and
WHEREAS, the EPA's adoption and implementation of regulations restricting carbon dioxide emissions will have serous financial economic implications for the State of Mississippi; and
WHEREAS, at a time when Mississippi is fighting to save jobs and stabilize the economy, we cannot afford to stand idly by while the EPA acts in an unprecedented and risky manner, especially when any regulation of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases is a matter that should be left to Congress; and
WHEREAS, this pending EPA effort would burden progress on two of the nation's top priorities, environmental improvement and economic recovery, by imposing onerous permitting requirements that will significantly delay or even eliminate investments in new energy efficient technologies; and
WHEREAS, over four million jobs were lost in 2009 in the United States, and these proposed EPA regulations have the potential to cause even more job losses in 2010 and beyond; and
WHEREAS, the regulatory requirements of the Clean Air Act, 42 USCS 7401, will overwhelm state agencies, which are not equipped to handle the estimated six million permitting requests anticipated; and
WHEREAS, it is the policy of this Legislature to request that the United States Congress take actions that would benefit this nation, including a fair and effective approach for climate and energy supply issues:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby acknowledge and support the bipartisan efforts reflected in Senate Joint Resolution 26 to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from acting independently to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant while there continues to be a vigorous, legitimate and substantive debate in Congress and the scientific community regarding the need for any such regulation.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to the members of Mississippi's congressional delegation and to the members of the Capitol Press Corps.
