Murkowski Resolution Defeated

Last week the U.S. Senate defeated by a 47–53 vote a resolution submitted by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) that disapproved of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) finding that greenhouse gas emissions threaten public health and welfare.

Six Democrats voted against the resolution: Mark Pryor, Evan Bayh, Ben Nelson, Jay Rockefeller, Blanche Lincoln, and Mary Landrieu. No Republicans voted against Murkowski’s resolution.

If passed by both chambers of Congress and signed by President Obama, the resolution would have vacated the EPA’s endangerment finding and thereby removed EPA’s legal authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.

The White House applauded the vote after threatening to veto resolution S.J. Res. 26. On June 8, the White House issued a rare, formal “Statement of Administration Policy” (PDF) expressing “strong” opposition to the Murkowski resolution. The administration said the resolution would “increase the Nation’s dependence on oil and other fossil fuels and block efforts to cut pollution that threatens our health and well-being.”

Sources: POWERnews, White House