US Declares Greenhouse Gases a Danger to Public Health and Welfare

The U.S. government officially declared greenhouse gases a danger to public health and welfare today, showing the world and Congress that even if national climate legislation is delayed, the United States can still take action to limit global warming.

Sen. John Kerry, a key negotiator at international climate talks in Copenhagen, called the EPA's finalizing of its endangerment finding “a clear message to Copenhagen of the Obama Administration’s commitment to address global climate change.”

As for lawmakers in Washington, Kerry said,

“The message to Congress is crystal clear: Get moving. Imposed regulations by definition will not include the job protections and investment incentives we are proposing in the Senate today. ... Industry needs the certainty that comes with Congressional action on this vital issue.”

The endangerment finding doesn’t create regulations by itself, but it lays a foundation for regulatory action under the Clean Air Act.

The finding authorizes and, in light of a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, now obligates the EPA to take steps to reduce greenhouse gas pollutants.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson earlier described how the EPA intended to write those future regulations. They would be “tailored” so only large industrial polluters, those emitting more than 25,000 tons of greenhouse gases a year, would be required to obtain permits demonstrating they were using the best practices and control technology. The EPA estimates the rules would cover about 14,000 facilities that account for nearly 70 percent of the national emissions from stationary sources such as power plants and refineries.

It isn't clear how soon that might happen, though.

When asked today if the EPA would set regulations before the Senate debates climate legislation — which Senate leaders say isn't likely before spring — Jackson replied that she doesn't have a timeline for taking action.

She stressed, however, that the administration still firmly believes that climate legislation is necessary. A federal law can be comprehensive, economy wide, and provide certainty for investors, she said, but it shouldn’t be an either/or proposition — both Congress and the Clean Air Act have important roles to play.

That emphasis, echoed today by EarthJustice and Friends of the Earth, stems from a key difference between the House-passed American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) bill and the Senate's climate bill. ACES would expressly prevent the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from power plants; the Senate version contains no such restriction — yet. A few senators have attempted to add similar language to other bills this year.

Extensive Review Already Raised the 'ClimateGate' Questions

The endangerment finding was unusual in arriving unaccompanied by regulations. Jackson said the administration took that route because it wanted the public to understand the step and be involved in the process.

Nearly 400,000 comments came in, all of them reviewed and in the public record. That extensive review process, from before the endangerment finding was proposed in April until now, raised the same questions that are being brought up in the hacked e-mails scandal, Jackson said when asked why the EPA didn't delay issuing the endangerment finding.

“I didn’t delay it because there is nothing in the hacked emails that undermines the science upon which this decision is based,” Jackson said. “This does not raise new questions that have not already been addressed.

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