EPA seeks to regulate greenhouse gases

Agency: gases are pollutants

Steve Hawley, Apr 17, 09.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday proposed to regulate greenhouse gas emissions as pollutants under the Clean Air Act, according to the Washington Post. The announcement comes almost two years after the Supreme Court ordered the agency to investigate whether or not greenhouse gases are pollutants subject to regulatory oversight.

EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said in a statement, “This finding confirms that greenhouse gas pollution is a serious problem now and for future generations,” adding, “This pollution problem has a solution - one that will create millions of green jobs and end our country’s dependence on foreign oil.”

The “endangerment findings” in the EPA’s written proposal state:

Concentrations of greenhouse gases are at unprecedented levels compared to the recent and distant past. These high atmospheric levels are the unambiguous result of human emissions, and are very likely the cause of the observed increase in average temperatures and other climatic changes. The effects of climate change observed to date and projected to occur in the future – including but not limited to the increased likelihood of more frequent and intense heat waves, more wildfires, degraded air quality, more heavy downpours and flooding, increased drought, greater sea level rise, more intense storms, harm to water resources, harm to agriculture, and harm to wildlife and ecosystems – are effects on public health and welfare within the meaning of the Clean Air Act.

Specifically, the agency proposes to regulate carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride.

The EPA must conduct a 60-day public comment period before finalizing the endangerment finding. The EPA also released a cause or contribute finding stating that emissions from cars and trucks are “reasonably likely” to contribute to climate change.

The Washington Post notes:

Even before the formal announcement, experts predicted the decision would transform the federal government’s role in regulating commercial operations across the country. Roger Martella, who served as EPA’s general counsel under Bush and is now a partner at the firm Sidley Austin in Washington, issued a statement saying, “The proposed endangerment finding marks the official beginning of an era of controlling carbon in the United States.”