Environmental Protection Agency Regulations

Open email to Sen. Cruz (TX):

Dear Sen. Cruz,
Thank you for your form letter on the Environmental Protection Agency Regulations, which I repeat below.
I agree wholeheartedly with your position that the Environmental Protection Agency has been used by Pres. Obama in ways not originally intended by Congress and in some cases actually in opposition to Congressional desires. I don't know what you can do about that but anything to slow down ridiculous regulations is obviously the goal. The only good news I have heard from the EPA recently is their removal of objection to the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Somewhat aside from the main point of the EPA, I suspect that you do not understand the effects of greenhouse gases on climate, although you have come to the correct conclusion that carbon dioxide emission should not be regulated.
Let me see if I can explain the carbon dioxide issue from its fundamentals, in order for you to continue to take proper action with a full understanding of the so-called problem.
The theory relating carbon dioxide to climate change is simply that the sun's radiation hits the earth surface and generates heat. That heat would normally radiate back to the stratosphere, except that is inhibited by greenhouse gases, which act as insulation to that passage of heat, much like fiberglass insulation is used in housing to slow down interior heat gain in the summer, and heat loss in the winter.
If we measure insulation properties of gases in the laboratory, we see that carbon dioxide is almost twice is good an insulator as the major components of the atmosphere, which are nitrogen and oxygen.
However, the amount of insulation is important. One thousandth of an inch of fiberglass insulation in a house can be expected to do little or nothing compared to the usual use of 4 to 6 inches. Similarly, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is only 0.05%, compared to 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen.
We can now answer the two previous questions.
Does an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide affect climate? Yes. An increase in carbon dioxide atmospheric concentration increases the total resistance of the atmosphere to the loss of heat from the earth surface. That would tend to increase earth surface temperature, which we call global warming.
How much? Essentially none. Remember that while carbon dioxide is a better heat insulator than the other natural gases of the atmosphere, it's concentration is only 0.05%. An analogy would be that if you reduce the federal debt of $17 trillion by a few thousand dollars, you still have made essentially no dent in the debt.

Portions of Sen. Cruz's letter:

Dear Arthur,
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established in 1970 to enforce environmental protection standards pursuant to laws enacted by Congress. Yet, without the consent of Congress, the Obama Administration has sought to aggressively expand the scope of its authority, particularly regarding the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions- a purpose for which it was never intended.  Congress did consider expanding federal regulation of carbon emissions during the debate over the so-called "cap and trade" bill, but the representatives of the people declined to impose such regulation.
Despite Congress' refusal to enact new EPA laws, President Obama has proposed to bypass Congress and use the EPA to regulate carbon emissions. The issue of regulating greenhouse gasses involves balancing protection of the environment and the impact on jobs and economic growth. Such controversial policies should be decided by Congress-not by the President acting alone or by the decree of unelected federal bureaucrats.