WASHINGTON, D.C. - Did the Environmental Protection Agency act too quickly in determining that greenhouse gases are hazardous to the health of Americans? What about the agency??s move to license California and other states that proclaim their own nonfederal fuel-economy standards?

Iain Murray, vice president for strategy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, thinks the agency has gone too far in gobbling up power. "It??s a sure sign that a government agency has become over-mighty when it vastly increases its budget, grabs power unconstitutionally and treats Congress with contempt," he wrote in the Washington Times. "Unless Congress acts quickly to curb the EPA??s power, it will become a huge drag on the economy."

Among the things the agency has done deserving of financial cutbacks includes its "finding under the Clean Air Act that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare goes way beyond the powers of the act." The agency??s power grab has included licensing California and other states "to adopt nonfederal fuel-economy standards within their borders; [acting] co-equal (or even senior partner) with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in setting fuel-economy standards for the auto industry; [establishing] climate and energy policy for the nation; and [tailoring], that is, [amending], the Clean Air Act to avoid an administrative debacle of its own making."

Murray states that the agency "is ignoring the plain language of the statutes and, in some cases, the constitutional requirements of the Supremacy Clause and separation of powers."

But a few congressional lawmakers are looking into the agency??s recent activities, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who wrote to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to ask for information about the agency??s actions.

Between now and May 25, the Senate will likely vote on "Murkowski??s Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval. This measure would veto the legal force and effect of EPA??s endangerment finding."