The Obama administration and Congress face a battle over regulation of climate-altering gases produced by factories and power plants, observers say.
The first phase of regulation will go into effect Sunday, but congressional Republicans are warning of a backlash if the administration tries to move too far or too fast in its efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, The New York Times reported Thursday.
But there are risks for Republicans as well if they move to hamper the Environmental Protection Agency, possibly provoking public outrage and charges they are endangering public health in favor of big-business interests, the newspaper said.
"These are hand grenades, and the pins have been pulled," says William K. Reilly, EPA administrator under former President George H.W. Bush.
Caught between a hostile Congress and the mandates of the law, the EPA has little room to maneuver, Reilly says.
But opponents of the EPA's regulations should realize the agency's regulatory actions are based on laws that Congress itself passed, many by overwhelming bipartisan margins, he says.