John Shimkus On CO2 Pollution: 'Does EPA Propose We Stop Breathing?'

(AP) WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. John Shimkus is speaking out against the Environmental Protection Agency's recent action on greenhouse gases.

The EPA has classified carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases as air pollutants. That means the federal government could regulate them in an attempt to reduce climate change.

The gases themselves aren't necessarily harmful, but the EPA found that their impact on the environment makes them dangerous.

Shimkus noted that carbon dioxide is a natural result of breathing and asked, "Does EPA propose we stop breathing?"

The Illinois Republican also joined with other members of Congress in a letter urging the president not to agree to pollution reductions at the Copenhagen conference on global warming.

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