Brentwood Republican Marsha Blackburn’s name has been added to a legal action challenging an EPA statement on climate change.
At issue is whether or not the Environmental Protection Agency should be allowed to say that global warming is caused by human activity. The agency issued a statement saying as much in December. That opens the door to regulating greenhouse gasses, such as carbon, under the Clean Air Act.
The filing asks for a judge to force the EPA to reconsider that statement. It claims that the conclusions were based on flawed research and manipulated data.
The papers were initially filed in late December by the Southeastern Legal Foundation. The plaintiff list now includes a handful of businesses that support the effort, along with fifteen members of Congress.
Blackburn is also sponsoring a bill that would specifically exempt carbon gasses from EPA regulation.
In a letter sent to legislators this week, EPA administrator Lisa Jackson said the agency doesn’t plan to begin restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions until late next year, and then, only at facilities that are already regulated for air pollution, like power plants.
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