Ever since Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) took the chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, he has engaged in a fully fledged war against the Clean Air Act. No matter that 69% of Americans want EPA to do more and that cost-benefit analysis (the tool that has been the darling of the GOP for decades) consistently shows that the Clean Air Act pays for itself 30 times over every year.

Upton’s latest attack comes in the form of two identical bills that were introduced in the House and the Senate yesterday by himself and Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) that would bar the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions forever. The bill would reverse EPA’s groundbreaking greenhouse gas permitting rules that took effect on Jan. 2, as well as mandatory emissions reporting and any ability for the EPA to set emissions standards for vehicles.

Rep. Upton has stated that the grave danger that greenhouse gases pose to the environment and to human health is a “myth.” This is good news for those of us who believe politicians are better equipped to scrutinize peer reviewed science than scientists. Those who trust our health to experts, however, are out of luck. The bill, according to Charles Connor, the CEO of the American Lung Association, “is a reckless and irresponsible attempt to once again put special interests in front of public health.”

While the Senate version of the bill is unlikely to pass, a similar version submitted by Sen. Rockefeller (D-WV) that would ban the EPA from taking any regulatory action on greenhouse gas emissions for two years has much more support.

Rockefeller and his friends across the aisle often complain that the Clean Air Act was never envisioned to regulate carbon dioxide, and they are probably right. That is no reason to condemn it, however. Instead, EPA regulation, if it is preserved, will act like a stick, compelling Congress to finally muster the courage to do their jobs and craft energy policy that improves public health, protects our national security, and allows business to plan for the future with certainty. “You start taking away these pressure points,” says Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK), “and we’ll never get a long-term energy policy.”

Update: An Energy and Commerce subcommittee approved the Upton bill.