U.S. lawmakers snipe over EPA ruling

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WASHINGTON, June 27 (UPI) -- Opponents of clean energy programs should get behind science that states emissions are a danger to public health, a U.S. lawmaker said.

The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency is correct in stating that greenhouse gas emissions are a danger to public health, rejecting challenges brought by a long list of industry groups and EPA opponents.

U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., ranking member of the Natural Resources Committee, said the ruling was a blow to supporters of the energy industry who are moving against green interests.

"Congressional Republicans should stop denying the science and start working with Democrats to craft more comprehensive and bipartisan responses to the threat posed by global warming," he said in a statement.

Markey helped write legislation in 2009 that would have regulated greenhouse gas emissions.

Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said the ruling struck a blow to the U.S. economy.

"EPA's rules will impose billions of dollars in compliance and delay costs and represent an unprecedented expansion of EPA authority that has the potential to affect virtually every sector of the economy and touch every household," he said.