Republican House votes to defund Environmental Protection Agency

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved an amendment late Friday afternoon that will eliminate funding for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The measure, known as the Poe-Carter Amendment after its sponsors, Reps. Ted Poe and John Carter of Texas, is part of the Fiscal Year 2011 Continuing Resolution.

The amendment will specifically cut funding for EPA efforts to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions from stationary sources.

“I am pleased that my colleagues in the House have chosen to put a stop to the back-door attempts by the administration to bypass Congress and circumvent the will of the American people,” said Poe in a statement after the amendment’s passage. “The era of EPA overstepping its authority by imposing over-burdensome and unnecessary regulations at the expense of American businesses is over.”

The EPA has come under fire lately from Republican lawmakers for new regulations that target carbon emissions. A number of bills have been introduced in the House and Senate to repeal the regulations