HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 34
(By Delegates Shott, Anderson, Andes, Armstead, Ashley, Azinger,
Border, Campbell, Cann, Canterbury, Cowles, Craig, Duke,
Eldridge, Ellem, Evans, Hall, Hamilton, Ireland, Louisos,
McGeehan, Michael, C. Miller, J. Miller, Morgan, Overington,
Porter, Reynolds, Romine, Rowan, Schadler, Schoen, Shook,
Sobonya, Spencer, Sumner and Williams)
[Introduced February 8, 2010.]
Expressing the will of the Legislature in supporting the adoption
by the United States Senate and the United States House of
Representatives of Senate Joint Resolution 26 disapproving a
rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating
to the endangerment finding and the cause or contribute
findings for greenhouse gases under section 202(a) of the
Clean Air Act, and requesting that West Virginia's
congressional delegation support the adoption of said
resolution.
Whereas, On April 17, 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency
formally issued an endangerment finding declaring carbon dioxide
and five other heat-trapping gases to be pollutants that endanger
public health and welfare under the Clean Air Act; and
Whereas, On January 21, 2010, a bipartisan group of 39 United States Senators introduced a disapproval resolution, Senate Joint
Resolution 26, pursuant to the provisions of the Congressional
Review Act to stop the Environmental Protection from regulating
carbon dioxide emissions under the Clean Air Act; and
Whereas, The Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to
impose back-door climate regulations with no input from Congress
will not only add a thick new layer of federal bureaucracy, but
also serve to depress economic activity - to slow it down, to make
it more expensive, to render it less efficient; and
Whereas, The Environmental Protection Agency's adoption and
implementation of regulations restricting carbon dioxide emissions
will have serous financial economic implications for the State of
West Virginia; and
Whereas, At a time when West Virginia is fighting to save jobs
and stabilize the economy, we cannot afford to stand idly by while
the Environmental Protection Agency acts in an unprecedented and
risky manner, especially when any regulation of carbon dioxide and
other greenhouse gases is a matter that should be left to Congress;
and
Whereas, For the sake of those individuals and families who
depend upon the industries that would be adversely affected by a
restriction on the emission of carbon dioxide, the House of
Delegates, the West Virginia Senate, the Governor and West
Virginia's congressional delegation must work together to ensure that the Congress retain exclusive authority to regulate carbon
dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act;
therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Legislature of West Virginia supports the bi-partisan
efforts reflected in Senate Joint Resolution 26 to prevent the
Environmental Protection Agency from acting independently to
regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant while there continues to be
a vigorous, legitimate and substantive debate in Congress and the
scientific community regarding the need for any such regulation;
and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates
forward a certified copy of this resolution to United States
Senators Robert C. Byrd and John D. Rockefeller IV and
Representatives Alan B. Mollohan, Shelley Moore Capito and Nick J.
Rahall.