Bush calls out EPA climate rules as 'irresponsible' overreach

By John Siciliano, John Siciliano

Published December 20, 2015

Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush is calling out President Obama's climate change plan as "irresponsible," while at the same time admitting global warming is man-made and real.

"Obama's carbon rule is irresponsible and ineffective," Bush told Bloomberg BNA, in an interview with the news group published Thursday. Bush was asked to give his opinion of the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan, which set emission limits for existing power plants and are at the center of Obama's climate change agenda.

The EPA plan directs states to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, which many scientists say are causing man-made climate change. The goal of the plan is to reduce the country's overall emissions 30 percent by 2030.

The Clean Power Plan has been a major political target for the GOP, which argues it will raise electric rates and cause the nation's energy system to become unstable. The rules are set to be made final as soon as Monday, Aug. 3.