Senate Democrats have blocked an effort to forbid the EPA from regulating carbon dioxide.
The battle is not over, in so far as the EPA simply does not have (subscription required), under the law, the authority to do what it is doing. The Clean Air Act is designed to deal with pollution, and sets thresholds for action that are entirely inappropriate for carbon dioxide, which is much more prevalent than pollutants in even the worst polluted air. The EPA recognizes that applying the Clean Air Act’s rules to carbon dioxide would be absurd, but rather than abandoning the effort (as it should), it simply made up its own rules. This is an unconstitutional usurpation of legislative authority.
The Supreme Court has ruled against the EPA on carbon dioxide once already, in Massachusetts v. EPA. It may well do so again. A legislative solution would have been preferable to a judicial one, but unfortunately the Democrats have prevented that. In the meantime, they own the problem.
(Via Instapundit.)
