Washington ( CNN ) -- The U.S. Senate engaged in a heated debate Thursday on an issue at the heart of the fight over energy reform : whether the Environmental Protection Agency should have the authority to impose clear limits on the emission of greenhouse gases . The chamber is expected to vote on a `` resolution of disapproval '' drafted by Sen. Lisa Murkowski , R-Alaska , that would prevent the EPA from further regulation of air pollution from vehicles and industrial facilities . Murkowski has argued that new rules should be created only by Congress , not an executive agency . `` It would amount to an unprecedented power grab , ceding Congress ' responsibilities to unelected bureaucrats and move a very , very important debate , a critical debate , from our open halls to behind an agency 's closed doors , '' Murkowski argued on the Senate floor . Murkowski 's measure is vehemently opposed by environmentalists who say the EPA 's decision to regulate greenhouse gases is based on scientific research . `` I believe it 's ridiculous for politicians -- elected senators -- to make this scientific decision . It is not our expertise , '' replied Sen. Barbara Boxer , D-California , chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee . `` We 've got to stop this attack on science and health . '' It is unclear whether there are 51 votes in the Senate to approve the measure , which has bipartisan support , even though its prospects in the House are slim . Regardless , the administration issued a veto threat on Tuesday . The Murkowski resolution `` would undermine the administration 's efforts to reduce the negative impacts of pollution and the risks associated with environmental catastrophes , like the ongoing BP oil spill , '' a White House policy statement asserted . At issue is a 2007 Supreme Court ruling determining that the EPA has the authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the rules of the Clean Air Act . In December , the agency concluded scientific findings and declared that carbon dioxide and five other gases constitute pollutants that should be further restricted . In April , the agency announced new rules for vehicles : a mandatory increase in fuel efficiency coupled with reductions in gas emissions , starting with the 2012 model year . `` When the Clean Air Act became law in 1970 , only five pollutants were initially listed . Since then , dozens of additional pollutants have been listed , and the air we breathe is better for it , '' argued Sen. Maria Cantwell , D-Washington . Detractors of the EPA contend that the Clean Air Act was never intended to give federal agencies full control over greenhouse regulations but rather to check industrial and commercial structures . Such regulatory decisions , they argue , should be made by Congress . `` EPA regulation of greenhouse gases does not move us any closer to a clean energy future or to reducing our dependency on foreign oil . And furthermore , it simply is the wrong tool for addressing greenhouse gas emissions , '' said Sen. Blanche Lincoln , D-Arkansas . Lincoln 's sentiment was echoed by fellow Democrats Mary Landrieu of Louisiana , Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Mark Pryor of Arkansas . Though Murkowski said that she is not a skeptic of global warming and is `` not going after the science , '' many of her supporters have turned the dispute into a proxy debate on the scientific evidence . `` There is nowhere a scientific consensus on one of the EPA 's findings that humans are causing warming or that warming is necessarily bad for the environment or for humankind , '' claimed Sen. Orrin Hatch , R-Utah . Opponents of the resolution claim that their colleagues are choosing to ignore the scientific consensus in favor of electoral politics . `` The Murkowski resolution gives the United States Senate a choice between real science and political science , '' said Sen. Richard Durbin , D-Illinois . `` That 's what it comes down to . '' `` This discussion about global warming is now political , not scientific . And this is absurd , '' added Sen. Bernie Sanders , D-Vermont . EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson claimed in a Huffington Post column Monday that Murkowski has sided with `` big oil companies and their lobbyists '' in an effort to `` take away EPA 's ability to protect the health and welfare of Americans from greenhouse gas pollution . '' Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nevada , has said he wants the Senate to approve new energy legislation this summer to address both global warming and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico . CNN 's Alan Silverleib contributed to this report .
NEW : Supporters of resolution claim EPA has exceeded proper authority . NEW : Opponents argue that resolution puts politics ahead of real science . Senate to vote Thursday on resolution removing EPA 's ability to regulate greenhouse gases . Measure needs 51 votes to pass .