Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski wants to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.
She says the "worst scenario" is for the agency to do by regulation what Congress should do by legislation. Murkowski and other critics fear EPA action will be blind to the economic consequences, while Congress can craft a more economically flexible system for controlling the pollution.
She's right that Congress needs to act.
President Obama has said that he too would rather Congress do the job.
But he has also said that if Congress doesn't act, the EPA must take the initiative. And Congress hasn't been doing the job. EPA's work keeps the pressure on Congress to deal with the issue.
The EPA has been acting on a court order to determine if greenhouse gases were a threat to U.S. public health and if so, to deal with the threat according to provisions of the Clean Air Act.
To read the complete editorial, visit The Anchorage Daily News.
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