U.S. House votes to rescind EPA authority to regulate greenhouse gases

The U.S. House has voted 255-172 in favor of restricting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

The bill, H.R. 910, the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011, was sponsored by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.). Its stated purpose:

To amend the Clean Air Act to prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from promulgating any regulation concerning, taking action relating to, or taking into consideration the emission of a greenhouse gas to address climate change, and for other purposes.

The measure now goes to to the U.S. Senate for a vote, where it needs a two-thirds majority of support to pass. The Senate voted down similar legislation on Wednesday.