Blowing Smoke

Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski's plan to strip the EPA's ability to regulate greenhouse gases has run into a little snag:  a promised White house veto.

The White House made it clear Tuesday that President Barack Obama will veto Sen. Lisa Murkowski's proposal to curtail the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's effort to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, in the unlikely event the Alaska Republican's proposal passes Congress.

Murkowski on Thursday will ask fellow senators to vote on a rarely used disapproval resolution, which signals congressional displeasure with the EPA's finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health. The proposal would keep the federal agency from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from large polluters such as power plants, a regulatory move already under way in the absence of any comprehensive climate bill by Congress.

The White House went as far as to issue a statement of administration policy on the EPA matter, and said Tuesday that the proposal from the Alaska Republican would "undermine the administration's efforts to reduce the negative impacts of pollution and the risks associated with environmental catastrophes, like the ongoing BP oil spill."

"As seen in the Gulf of Mexico, environmental disasters harm families, destroy jobs, and pollute the nation's air, land and water," the White House wrote.

I understand that while Murkowski has to fly the colors for her constituents energy company clients, the fact remains that given the spill in the Gulf I can't see how with Congress's refusal to do much of anything about the environment she comes out not sounding tone-deaf and hypocritical here.

It's interesting seeing Republicans criticizing Obama for now taking executive action on environmental issues, and then the same Republicans turning around and offering legislation to -- surprise -- strip the executive of the power to regulate environmental issues.

Amazing how that works.