EPA Expects to Propose CO2 Endangerment Finding by Earth Day

The Obama administration is swiftly establishing a new regulatory world in which carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases will be treated as pollutants. By Earth Day, we could see the long-awaited endangerment finding on CO2.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has fast-tracked a federal response to the 2007 Supreme Court ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA, which ordered the federal government to make a determination that greenhouse gas emissions endanger the public health and welfare.

The Bush administration ignored that Supreme Court ruling for almost two years; now Obama's EPA is moving on it.

The EPA expects to wrap up a scientific review of the human health and climate dangers from greenhouse gas emissions today, and then submit its findings to formal interagency reviews starting next week, according to a March 6 document obtained by Greenwire.

Jackson intends to sign the endangerment finding on April 16.

The endangerment finding is a necessary foundation for future regulations on greenhouse gas emissions from cars, factories, power plants, and other sources, notes Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope.

"After years of delay by the previous administration, the Obama administration’s quick action to study and control global warming pollution is a breath of fresh air. This is yet more proof that President Obama has ended the Bush administration’s war on science once and for all."

The greenhouse gas endangerment finding will cover six gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride, however the document states that others could be added, including black carbon and aviation contrails.

Jackson doesn't plan to issue any related greenhouse gas regulations until the 60-day
comment period on the endangerment finding has ended and the finding is finalized. Once that happens, these industries should be prepared: Electricity, transportation and industry, the biggest polluters of CO2, which makes up 84.4 percent of the emissions; livestock, landfills and natural gas, which lead methane production; and agriculture, the primary source of nitrous oxide.

Among the arguments cited in the document for recommending a positive endangerment finding:

• Severe heat waves are projected to intensify in magnitude and duration over the portions of the U.S. where these events already occur, with likely increases in mortality and morbidity, especially among the elderly, young and frail.
• Climate change is expected to lead to increases in regional ozone pollution, with associated risks in respiratory infection, aggravation of asthma, and premature death.
• Storm impacts are likely to be more severe, especially along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts.
• Intensity of precipitation events is projected to increase in the U.S. and other regions of the world, increasing the risk of flooding, greater runoff and erosion, and thus the potential for adverse water quality effects.
• Projected trends will increase the number of people suffering from disease and injury due to floods, storms, droughts and fires.
• Expanded ranges of vector-borne and tick-borne diseases are expected but with modulation by public health measures and other factors.
• Climate change scientific literature already draws attention to environmental justice considerations.

Jackson might be holding off issuing new regulations, but she isn't waiting to starting building the framework for action. Today, she signed a proposed rule that will require all major U.S. polluters – from coal-fired power plants to cement producers, automakers, and iron and steel works – to report their greenhouse gas emissions.