Janice R. Andrews
Today, the Senate took a major step forward by voting to pass a bill that would repeal a Transportation Department rule that targets greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles. Sens.
Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) showed strong Democratic support for the Congressional Review Act resolution, S.J. Res. 61, which was sponsored by Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.). The resolution was approved 53–47.
Though the Senate passed the resolution with bipartisan support, the resolution’s future in the House remains unknown. According to a statement issued during the Senate vote, the White House has already indicated that President Joe Biden will veto the resolution if it reaches his desk.
The resolution aims to do away with what the White House refers to as “a common-sense, good-government tool” for publicly regulating greenhouse gas emissions associated with transportation and directing capital expenditure choices.
The Federal Highway Administration’s targeted regulation, Reg. 2125-AF99, mandated that state transportation planners evaluate and establish goals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions related to highway use. States were free to choose how to set these goals, but there were no consequences for breaking the norm.
The regulation’s legitimacy has been called into question by recent judicial challenges, notwithstanding its original goals. Texas and Kentucky federal judges rejected the order on the grounds that it went beyond their statutory power and was overbroad.
Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) has simultaneously introduced H.J. Res. 114, a variant of the resolution, in the House, indicating the possibility of more discussion and action on this divisive topic.
