A recent Congressional bill that may limit the capabilities of the Environmental Protection Agency has a group of university professors up in arms.

The professors, who are from various Michigan universities including the University of Michigan, Western Michigan University and Michigan State University, have banded together to protest the bill, which seeks to constrain the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, specifically in relation to the Clean Air Act. The legislation — called the Energy Tax Prevention Act — was proposed by U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R–Mich.), chair of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce, among others, with the intention to prevent rising energy prices.

In a conference call yesterday, the professors discussed the importance of allowing the EPA to continue its work of regulating the environment without restrictions.

More than 160 scientists, including numerous University of Michigan researchers and professors, also signed a letter to Congress as of yesterday afternoon, asking Michigan’s congressmen to support the EPA and oppose any further attempts to undermine its authority.

The panel of scientists speaking during the conference call included Howard Lerner, an adjunct clinical assistant professor of psychology in the University’s Medical School and president and executive director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center — a Midwestern think tank.

Lerner said a multidisciplinary group of scientists have signed the letter so far because they believe actions should be taken to "reduce greenhouse gas pollution and protect public health."

“The 160 scientists that signed the letter that we have distributed today are urging Congress to not support any measure that would weaken the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,” Lerner said. “The EPA has a responsibility to do its job and do its job well, implementing and applying the Clean Air Acts standards, and Congress must let the EPA do its job.”

However, a March 4 press release from Upton’s office states that the intent of the bill is to prevent the EPA’s climate change efforts from skyrocketing energy costs for Americans.

“Whether at the pump or on their monthly utility bills, American families, farmers and employers feel the pinch when energy prices go up,” Upton wrote in the press release. “The very last thing the federal government should do is make matters worse by intentionally driving up the cost of energy. Yet that is exactly what’s in store if the EPA moves forward with its plans to regulate and penalize carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act.”

The proposed law states that it is “a bill to amend the Clean Air Act to prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from promulgating any regulation concerning, taking action relating to, or taking into consideration the emission of a greenhouse gas to address climate change, and for other purposes.”

A recent EPA report projecting the benefits of the Clean Air Act revealed that the law will enable a cost-savings of $2 trillion by 2020 and will save 230,000 people's lives each year, according to a press release issued yesterday from the group of scientists.

But the press release from Upton’s office states that the proposed legislation would simply “clarify” the EPA’s role in regard to the Clean Air Act, “preserving the law’s important and longstanding functions to reduce air pollution.”

Knute Nadelhoffer, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University and director of the LSA Biological Station, also participated in the call and discussed his recent testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce about the science behind greenhouse gas pollution.