With Americans upset about rising gasoline prices, Republicans in Congress aim to fix the blame on one person when they return next week from recess: President Barack Obama.

Congress wrapped up its last work session on April 15 with Democrats and Republicans in a blistering debate about budget deficits and the size of the federal government.

Now, Republican leaders in the House of Representa

Republicans poised to take power in Congress are planning a rapid attack against a climate change initiative the Obama administration wants to launch on January 2, according to members of the Senate and House of Representatives.

Their resolve could harden further after President Barack Obama's Environmental Protection Agency announces a second layer of regulation, possibly as early as Thursday,

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would be prohibited for one year from clamping down on some new carbon dioxide pollution under legislation being crafted on Tuesday by Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski.

The "time out" would stop EPA from issuing regulations aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from utilities and factories, the Republican senator said.

As President Barack Obama encouraged world leaders meeting in Italy to intensify the fight against global warming, legislation to cut U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases suffered a delay in the Senate on Thursday.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged Congress to pass "historic legislation" to fight global warming, prompting his fellow Democrats in the House of Representatives to aim for a vote on Friday on the bill to reduce industrial emissions of carbon dioxide.

Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives have put major environmental legislation on a fast-track, boosting chances a climate change bill will pass this month or next, leading lawmakers said on Wednesday.

A leading US lawmaker behind efforts to tackle global warming predicted on Monday that his climate change bill will advance this week in the House of Representatives, even as Republicans warned it will ruin the ailing US economy.

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday said they were working out final details of a climate change bill, as they announced new breaks for industry that they said would also minimize the potential impact on consumers' energy bills.

"We have reached agreement on most key matters," said Representative Rick Boucher, who represents the coal-producing state of Virginia.

Republicans in the US House of Representatives on Wednesday vowed to push for major changes to a climate change bill that could move through a key committee next week, including a proposal to count nuclear power as a clean energy alternative.

Negotiations in the US House of Representatives on how to cut industrial pollutants that cause global warming reach a critical stage this week as President Barack Obama huddles with key lawmakers on Tuesday and Republicans ready for a fight.