Ryan Whaley Coldiron Shandy

The Environmental Protection Agency issued a ruling on December 7, 2009 that greenhouse gases in the atmosphere pose a threat to public health and welfare.  Specifically, the EPA found that current and projected atmospheric concentrations of the six major greenhouse gases--carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride—pose a threat to human health.  Additionally, the EPA found that emissions of the greenhouse gases from motor vehicles contribute to greenhouse gas pollution.  These findings are a result of the United States Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. 497 (2007), where the Court held that GHGs fall within the definition of air pollutants covered by the Clean Air Act.  Further, the Court held that the EPA Administrator must determine whether emissions of greenhouse gases from new motor vehicles contribute to climate change, and if the EPA so found, the agency must take regulatory steps to control such emissions.  See the full opinion here:
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&navby=case&vol=000&invol=05-1120
 
The EPA’s findings themselves do not impose any regulations or requirements, but instead serve as a prerequisite to the finalization of jointly-proposed regulations issued by the EPA and the Department of Transportation, regarding new GHG emission standards for light-duty vehicles. 

GHGs are the primary contributors to climate change, which results in hotter, longer heat waves that threaten the health of the sick, poor and elderly.  Additionally, the accumulation of CO2 and other GHGs increase ground-level ozone pollution, linked to asthma and other respiratory illnesses, among other threats to human health. 

EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson stated: “These long-overdue findings cement 2009’s place in history as the year when the United States Government began addressing the challenge of greenhouse-gas pollution and seizing the opportunity of clean-energy reform. . . This continues our work towards clean energy reform that will cut GHGs and reduce the dependence on foreign oil that threatens our national security and our economy.” See Cathy Milbourn, E.P.A.: Greenhouse Gases Threaten Public Health and the Environment (12/07/2009), see link below.

To learn more, including information from the EPA’s own website, click on the following links:

Cathy Milbourn, EPA: Greenhouse Gases Threaten Public Health and the Environment (12/07/2009): http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/d0cf6618525a9efb85257359003fb69d/08d11a451131bca585257685005bf252!OpenDocument

Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings for Greenhouse Gases under the Clean Air Act (10/07/2009):
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/endangerment.html

John M. Broder, Greenhouse Gases Imperil Health, EPA Announces (12/7/2009)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/science/earth/08epa.html?_r=2&ref=energy-environment