Oklahoma U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe is again at odds with the Obama White House. And yes, it involves climate change.
This time, it’s in a difference of opinion with the White House Council on Environmental Quality and its final guidance on considering climate change in environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act.
As chairman of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Sen. Inhofe argues the Council staff did not have legal authority to continue to operate because it has not had a Senate-confirmed chairman since February 2014.
“Under the Vacancies Reform Act, no person may perform the duties of the vacant CEQ Chairman position until the President has nominated a candidate who is subject to Senate confirmation,” Inhofe said. “With no Senate-confirmed chairman, or even a nominee, today’s guidance can have no force or effect as CEQ staff have no authority to take any official action. Further, even if there were a Senate-confirmed Chairman of CEQ, global climate change falls outside of the scope of NEPA so the guidance has no legal basis.”
It’s not the first time that Sen. Inhofe brought the legal question to the attention of the White House. He did it in March of 2015 and again in November when he wrote the President and Christina Goldfuss who is CEQ’s managing Director. In his November 2015 letter, Inhofe explained that “under the Vacancies Reform Act no one may perform the duties of the Chairman until the President nominates a replacement.—–With the ongoing chairman vacancy, it is unclear under what authority lower-level officials have to purportedly operate and act on behalf of CEQ.”
The Senate Committee’s website indicated that, “to date, President Obama has not responded to Inhofe’s letter or submitted a nominee to Congress to fill the vacant CEQ Chairman position.”
