While the debate over a government shutdown has dominated the attention of the media, crucial developments in the ongoing battle over EPA regulation are unfolding, with Republicans thus far unsuccessful in rolling back the agency's greenhouse gas rules. At the same time, the ongoing budget debate, particularly for the next fiscal year, will be perhaps the most consequential for the EPA, as the funds needed to enforce its rules come under renewed attack. In this Energy and Climate Brief, Garten Rothkopf reviews the latest events on Capitol Hill concerning the EPA, as well what can be expected for EPA rules as Republicans and Democrats continue to fight over the budget.

While the government shutdown has captivated media and commentators, under the radar, a series of critical votes were taken on EPA rulemaking that offered the first concrete evidence of where the EPA battle will be fought. Yesterday’s series of Senate votes showed that the body is split right down the middle – half the members of the Senate support limiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases. But, Republicans actually passed up an opportunity to pass the Rockefeller Amendment, which would have delayed EPA rulemaking by two years from the current schedule. Capitol Hill insiders attributed the move to the fact that Republicans would prefer to use the EPA issue on the campaign trail than delay the rollout of the rules until 2013. Today’s GR Energy and Climate Brief examines the politics of the EPA issue as the rules – Air Transport Rule, Hazardous Air Pollutants / MACT Rules, and Clean Air Interstate Rule – come on-line and the significance of the votes in Congress this week.

President Obama Continues to Hedge: Forced by the EPA votes in the Senate, President Obama gave his first public indication this week that he would veto any anti-EPA legislation Congress sent him. But he continued to hedge a bit, releasing a statement saying not that he would definitively veto legislation but that his senior advisors would recommend that he veto any anti-EPA legislation – causing concern on left flank of the Democratic Party. President Barack Obama’s top deputy on energy and climate issues, Heather Zichal, said the President’s veto threat would extend to the GOP-led amendment in the Senate, but did not say how exactly the White House planned to proceed in the face of committed Republican opposition. Sources close to the action on Capitol Hill interviewed by GR confirmed that some Obama advisers “wouldn’t mind seeing the whole EPA fight go away” in the run-up to 2012, because it is perceived to be a potential political vulnerability.

Democrats Hold Line on McConnell / Inhofe Amendment: There were five separate votes to postpone EPA CAA rules yesterday on the Senate floor but the broad preemption measure was the Amendment offered by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) to a small business bill that the Senate had been working on since March.  GR heard from Senate Democratic aides that they were encouraged by the final vote counts: from their perspective, not as many Democratic senators defected to vote for the EPA regulatory suspension as they might have expected. 

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