Because clean air for humans is obviously a terrible idea. Anything that might increase costs for business is bad and anything that promotes higher health care costs to individuals is good. All clear?
Three days into the new Congress, rank-and-file Republicans in the House are quickly making it clear that one of their main priorities will be blocking new air regulations from U.S. EPA -- and not just the ones that are aimed at climate change.
On the climate side, with top-ranking Republicans promising to pass legislation that would block agency actions they see as harmful to the economy, there are already plenty of options on the table. Reps. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Ted Poe of Texas opened up the new session by introducing bills that take different approaches to stopping EPA's new rules for greenhouse gas emissions.
And yesterday, Rep. John Carter (R-Texas) put forward a resolution to block the agency's new regulations for toxic air pollution from cement kilns, prompting a swift backlash from environmentalists and Democrats, who painted the Republicans as putting business interests ahead of human lives.
