14-November-2014

The Obama administration's aggressive Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations are no doubt going to clash with the agenda of the new Republican Congress—with the next majority leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell already vowing to fight the rules.

Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe will presumably take over as chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) and it is expected that he will open investigations into the EPA to curb funding and delay regulations. FaegreBD Consulting principal Andrew Wheeler, Inhofe's former chief of staff, explains to New York Times that Inhofe was, "Willing to do aggressive oversight during the Bush administration." He says that, "This time, it's going to be very aggressive."

On the docket for potential legislation by the Republicans is the Keystone XL pipeline—both Republicans and oil industry stakeholders have called for construction of the pipeline, which they see as a critical transport method for oil. While some believe that President Obama will veto legislation that will interfere with his administration's climate change rules, others say that he is not as likely to do so for the Keystone Pipeline because it is a single piece of infrastructure.  

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