JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - - In a letter to Missouri members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Missouri Farm Bureau President Charles Kruse asked they support the Resolution of Disapproval introduced by Missouri’s 4th District Representative Ike Skelton. Saying the resolution represents the best hope of stopping the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases under the Federal Clean Air Act, Kruse asked the delegation to co-sponsor the resolution. The full letter follows.

Of the many issues facing our nation, few may be as serious in terms of economic consequences as the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) continued push to regulate greenhouse gases under the Federal Clean Air Act. Congress must put the brakes on EPA’s greenhouse gas agenda and Farm Bureau believes the Resolutions of Disapproval introduced by Senator Lisa Murkowski and Congressman Ike Skelton represent the only realistic opportunity to do so anytime soon.

Pursuant to the Congressional Review Act, Congress is afforded a limited time to nullify final agency rules under certain conditions. A Resolution of Disapproval, if adopted by both chambers and signed by the President, would suspend harmful EPA regulation while Congress deliberates on this issue. The special rules that apply in the Senate for consideration of such a resolution make it our best hope for stopping EPA in the near future. The Murkowski resolution (S.J. Res. 26) has bipartisan support in the Senate with 40 cosponsors to date. Congressman Skelton was joined by Representatives Jo Ann Emerson and Collin Peterson in introducing H.J. Res. 76 late last week.

We have shared with you our serious concerns about the regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act and the implications such action poses for production agriculture and other sectors. While EPA officials assert they can choose how to apply clean air laws (i.e. regulating entities emitting more than 25,000 tons per year rather than using the 100/250 tons-per-year thresholds in statute), their viewpoint is unlikely to hold up in court. Should that occur – and we believe it will – thousands of family farms in Missouri alone will be swept up in clean air permitting requirements and fees that could total hundreds of millions of dollars annually. We continue to believe Congress and the Obama administration should instead focus their attention on the more pressing issue at hand--passage of a comprehensive energy policy.

Reining in the out-of-control EPA is not a Democrat or Republican issue nor is it a rural versus urban issue. It is an American issue because if left unchecked, EPA’s global warming/greenhouse gas agenda will cause unbelievable harm to our economy. We urge you to co-sponsor the Skelton resolution and do all that you can in the days ahead to help build support for its passage. Time is of the essence.

Charles E. Kruse
President, Missouri Farm Bureau

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