Nearly two years after the Supreme Court held in Massachusetts v. EPA that carbon dioxide meets the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA) definition of an “air pollutant”, EPA has responded to the White House Office of Management and Budget with a proposed finding that carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases endanger human health and the environment. EPA further proposes the gases be regulated as pollutants under the CAA.
These findings will potentially put pressure on Congress to enact a system to cap greenhouse gases and create a market for the buying and selling the right to emit them, as has been proposed by President Obama.
The endangerment finding follows EPA’s publication earlier this month of a national system for reporting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. About 13,000 facilities account for 85% to 90% of greenhouse gases emitted in the US and would be covered under this proposal, according to EPA.
EPA is expected to issue a final finding on April 2, 2009.
Posted on
Tue, March 24, 2009
by RWCS