Dems accuse EPA of trying to kill greenhouse gas reporting program that aids cap-and-trade

A group of climate-minded Democrats wrote Monday to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin accusing the agency of improperly moving to terminate a federal greenhouse gas-tracking operation that blue states have used as a model for their own carbon tax and cap-and-trade systems The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Undertaking or GHGRP was created under a congressional appropriation during the Obama administration It funded an EPA rule requiring large vitality producers and other high-emission industries to account their greenhouse gas output levels Rep Sean Casten D-Ill a green-energy engineer who had a key role in crafting the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative RGGI praised in blue states and criticized by conservatives led the letter to Zeldin in his role as vice chair of a House caucus focused on sustainable strength We write to inform you that the Environmental Protection Agency is violating clear congressional directives by proposing to end the EPA s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Venture Casten s letter read TRUMP ADMIN SCORES LEGAL WIN IN B SETTING FIGHT AS FEDERAL APPEALS COURT LIFTS BLOCK ON GRANT TERMINATIONS For more than a decade this activity has been the majority central source of transparent and verifiable conditions waste material in the federal regime and the EPA has clear authority and obligation to continue maintaining it The letter also signed by key capacity coalition members Reps Donald Beyer of Virginia Paul Tonko of New York Mike Quigley of Illinois and Doris Matsui of California all Democrats noted ending the initiative would undermine evidence-based governance at a key moment in setting change challenges Casten s group communicated Zeldin the move appears to be the latest strike in scientific figures censorship by President Donald Trump and his administration accusing the feds of restricting hiding or defunding data-centered operations across the various agencies EPA URGED TO AXE FUNDS FOR RADICAL CONTEXT PROJECT ACCUSED OF TRAINING JUDGES STATE AGS RALLYReached by Fox News Digital an EPA official verified receipt of Casten s letter and reported the agency will respond through appropriate channels A source familiar with the situation argued the GHGRP has no material impact on improving human physical condition or protecting the climate and is instead just another onerous regulation for the federal cabinet to pass on to potency producers who would rather focus on providing efficiency to American consumers Removing the rule and the operation would save the private sector up to billion in regulatory costs connected to reporting and statutory obligations critics have declared California and New York have similar programs at the state level and the Empire State s DEP disclosed in a fact sheet that its version of GHGRP aims to be helpful in creating cap-and-trade -- or as critics call cap-and-tax -- levies Facilities emitting more than metric tons of carbon dioxide per year must record their outputs to the EPA under the current rule That rubric tends to envelop power plants oil refineries large-scale metallurgy and waste management landfills Elements considered reportable also include methane nitrous oxide hydrofluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride