White House threatens to veto GOP-led move to stop EPA ruling on greenhouse gases

GOP bid to stop EPA ruling faces White House veto

WASHINGTON — The White House has issued a veto threat against a Republican-led effort to block Environmental Protection Agency regulations on the levels of greenhouse gases that power plants and factories can release into the air.

The veto threat comes two days before the Senate votes on a measure that would overturn the EPA’s ruling requiring reductions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.

The White House says a vote for the Senate measure would increase the nation’s dependence on oil and add to pollution-related health risks.

Republicans say the EPA ruling will kill jobs and that it should be Congress, not bureaucrats, that sets climate policies.

Thursday’s vote is seen as a key test as the Senate prepares to take up a major climate change bill this summer.