Republicans Reject Amendment to Reduce Foreign Oil; EPA Should Stand for End Petroleum Addiction, Not Every Polluter’s Ally
 
WASHINGTON (April 6, 2011) – House Republicans today rejected an amendment authored by Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) that would preserve EPA’s ability to increase the efficiency of cars, trucks, planes, trains and ships, thereby reducing our dependence on foreign oil. The amendment was made to the Upton Dirty Air Act that would overturn the scientific finding that dangerous carbon pollution is harming the planet and our people and would increase foreign oil imports.
 
Following several failed votes today in the U.S. Senate to take similar action, the legislation offered by the House today, and expected to pass tomorrow, will not become law.
 
The vote on the Markey amendment was 156 in favor, 266 against.
 
Rep. Markey, the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee and a senior member on the Energy and Commerce Committee, issued the following statement:
 
“With this bill, the Republicans made it clear that they want the EPA to stand for Every Polluter’s Ally. Democrats and the American people want the EPA to stand for End Petroleum Addiction.
 
“While the House Republicans’ bill spurns the reality of climatic changes, the eventual passage of this bill will be anti-climactic, as failure of several similar amendments in the Senate today means the House bill is effectively dead before it ever lived.”
 

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