EPA paves way for greenhouse gas regulation

EPA finalizes ruling

Steve Hawley, Dec 08, 09.

UPDATE: (12/09/09, 9:39 am): The Wall Street Journal reports that of the 380,000 public comments received by the EPA regarding the carbon dioxide endangerment finding, over 70 percent were supportive, while less than 30 percent were opposed.

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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has completed its endangerment finding for carbon dioxide, allowing the agency to begin regulating greenhouse gas emissions, according to the New York Times. The agency first proposed the rule, which would declare carbon dioxide to be a pollutant hazardous to human health, in April.

According to the article, the Obama administration hopes to use the ruling as a bargaining chip, both in the Copenhagen climate change conference that began Monday and in the US Congress. The administration can point to the ruling as an indicator that the United States is serious about reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and it can tell Congress that the EPA will act if Congress does not. However, administration officials have emphasized that they would prefer to act through legislation if possible.

The article also notes that some groups, such as the US Chamber of Commerce, may file lawsuits against the rules, which could delay implementation by several years.

While regulation under the new rules would be limited to large, stationary sources of pollution, such as power plants, that emit over 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year, the administration has also moved to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from smaller sources. This spring, the administration set stricter auto emissions and fuel economy standards.