Not all policy is set by Congress. Once an executive agency is established, it has discretion -- within limits ultimately defined by the Supreme Court -- to set policy as well. Sometimes it does so when Congress refuses to act on a particular issue. Such seems to be the case with proposals to regulate greenhouse gases.
- NYT story.
- EPA proposes curbs on industrial greenhouse gases -- latimes.com
- Website: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Wikipedia: EPA.
- Wikipedia: Rulemaking.
Agencies are granted rulemaking authority which gives them a degree of discretion in how they implement the law passed by Congress and given to them to implement. Their doing so is actually advantageous to members of Congress because it allows them to avoid making unpopular, but potentially necessary, decisions.
