OPTIMISTIC VIEW ON THE EPA MOVE?

Kim Strassel has an excellent piece in the Wall Street Journal today about the dangers of the EPA attempting to leap frog congress and it doesn't involve congress getting angry or indignant over being spurned. It does, however, involve congress being off the hook when it comes to the Cap & Trade disaster.

Did Obama unwittingly put himself alone on Disaster Island by vicariously issuing a threat to congress through the EPA and its head Lisa Jackson?

The thing about threats, though, is that at some point you have to act on them. The EPA has been sitting on its finding for months, much to the agitation of environmental groups that have been upping the pressure for action.

President Obama, having failed to get climate legislation, didn't want to show up to the Copenhagen climate talks with a big, fat nothing. So the EPA pulled the pin. In doing so, it exploded its own threat.

Far from alarm, the feeling sweeping through many quarters of the Democratic Congress is relief. Voters know cap-and-trade is Washington code for painful new energy taxes. With a recession on, the subject has become poisonous in congressional districts. Blue Dogs and swing-state senators watched in alarm as local Democrats in the recent Virginia and New Jersey elections were pounded on the issue, and lost their seats.

But now? Hurrah! It's the administration's problem! No one can say Washington isn't doing something; the EPA has it under control. The agency's move gives Congress a further excuse not to act.

This is where it gets good. Strassel points out that lawsuits targeting the EPA are sure to mount and congress will collectively look at Obama as the person responsible.

Green groups pioneered the art of environmental lawsuits. It turns out the business community took careful notes.

Industry groups are gearing up for a legal onslaught; and don't underestimate their prospects. The leaked emails from the Climatic Research Unit in England alone are a gold mine for those who want to challenge the science underlying the theory of manmade global warming.

Be sure to read Strassel's ENTIRE PIECE. It is excellent.