The House Energy and Commerce Committee today will begin to mark up a bill that would strip U.S. EPA of its authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources like power plants, oil refineries and manufacturing.

The measure (H.R. 910) from Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) has moved speedily through the committee since it was formally introduced two weeks ago, receiving approval by voice vote last week in the Energy and Power Subcommittee (E&E Daily, March 10).

Lawmakers will give their opening statements this afternoon, after which Upton will call up his bill. The committee then will recess and reconvene tomorrow morning. The measure is expected to clear the full committee with ease.

No amendments were offered when the subcommittee marked up the bill -- a relatively quick process which took three hours -- but committee Democrats indicated last week that they would prepare amendments ahead of the full committee vote.

Republicans in both the House and Senate moved last week to link EPA's regulation of greenhouse gas emissions to the upswing in gasoline prices.

"These rules are about as out of touch with what the American people want as anything moving forward in Washington -- this is especially so, given what the rules would do to already-soaring gasoline prices," said Upton, following the subcommittee vote.

"What I call the Obama administration's cap-and-trade agenda is also playing a major role in pushing prices higher -- and not just for gasoline," said Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) on the floor Thursday. Inhofe has introduced a companion to Upton's bill in the Senate.

"This agenda hurts families, truckers and farmers -- basically, anyone who drives, uses diesel, or flips a light switch. In a word: everyone," Inhofe said.

But EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, who appeared Friday on Capitol Hill to discuss her agency's fiscal 2012 budget request, told Energy and Commerce that the legislation would forgo fuel economy improvements that in turn would drive up the cost of energy. She noted that in addition to the bill's provisions on stationary sources of CO2, it would also prevent EPA from being involved in setting any future greenhouse gas tailpipe emissions rules after model year 2016.

"The bill that passed the committee would actually increase the amount of money that Americans have to pay for gasoline," she said. "All told, nullifying this part of the Clean Air Act would prevent hundreds of billions of barrels of oil savings at a time when prices are rising yet again. I can't for the life of me understand why you would vote to massively increase America's oil dependence."

Schedule: The markup will begin today at 3 p.m. in 2123 Rayburn and continue tomorrow at 10 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.