By Bill Raack, St. Louis Public Radio
St. Louis, MO – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri says she will vote against a resolution that seeks to undo the EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gases.
The Senate is expected to act on the resolution, which has mostly Republican support, Thursday.
McCaskill says the Clean Air Act's new emission and mileage standards could save millions of barrels of oil each year.
"I don't think it's a good idea to not move forward with these hard-fought victories and compromises that the automobile industry supports, the autoworkers support, and the environmentalists support. So I think we need to push forward on cars and trucks," McCaskill said.
She says she prefers a different version of the resolution, which would delay for two years any EPA regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources, like utility plants.
Senator Kit Bond of Missouri is among those wanting to undo the EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gases. Bond and other supporters of Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski's disapproval resolution call the EPA's move a backdoor attempt to regulate carbon.
"Families and workers in my state, like everybody else's, don't want to see the lost jobs, the higher energy costs that the EPA's big government takeover of carbon regulations would bring," Bond said.
The Obama administration says the resolution would undermine the Clean Air Act and has threatened a veto if it reaches the president's desk.