Today, fears that President Obama would use the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate carbon if Congress does not pass “cap-and-trade” were confirmed by an unnamed White House spokesperson.
According to Fox News’ Major Garrett, the official said:
If you [Congress] don’t pass this legislation [cap-and-trade], then … the EPA is going to have to regulate in this area. And it is not going to be able to regulate on a market-based way, so it’s going to have to regulate in a command-and-control way, which will probably generate even more uncertainty.
Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist alluded to this on December 7, after the EPA ruling that Carbon Dioxide was harmful to human health noting, “This ruling is a scary precursor to the way Obama plans to use his regulators if Congress doesn’t play nice.”
It appears Obama’s White House confirmed Norquist’s fear. In a statement released today, Norquist stated:
When people in the White House say something can’t happen in a ‘market-based way’ but they plan to do it if Congress doesn’t kiss the golden anti-carbon ring, people tend to grab pitch forks. The last time I checked, those pesky green trees and plants need carbon dioxide, which animals and humans exhale, to live. Democrats in the 1960s liked trees, I wonder what changed?