Let us all hope that Team Obama won’t destroy the US by destroying the means for our energy production.
If this truly idiotic CO2=pollution proposal goes through, we're really in for a rough economic ride. In reality, it's the EPA that's a "danger to public health"..
online.wsj.com
MARCH 23, 2009, 2:06 P.M. ET
EPA Calls CO2 a Threat to Public
Ruling Might Trigger Emissions Regulations
By IAN TALLEY
WASHINGTON -- The Environmental Protection Agency has sent a proposal to the White House finding that carbon dioxide is danger to public health, in a step that could trigger the enforcement of stringent emissions rules under the Clean Air Act.
If approved by the White House Office of Management and Budget, the endangerment finding could make regulations of greenhouse gases across the economy tougher than those prepared but not approved by the Bush administration. The EPA submitted the proposed rule to the White House on Friday, according to federal records published Monday.
A finding that CO2 is a threat to public health and welfare also would ratchet up pressure on Congress to enact a system that caps greenhouse gases and creates a market for businesses to buy and sell the right to emit them, as President Barack Obama has proposed.
Earlier this month, the EPA proposed a national system for reporting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse-gas emissions by major emitters. The EPA has said about 13,000 facilities, accounting for about 85% to 90% of greenhouse gases emitted in the U.S., would be covered under the proposal.
Business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers warn that if the EPA moves forward on regulation of CO2 under the Clean Air Act -- instead of a measured legislative approach -- it could hobble the already weak economy.
Coal-fired power plants, oil refineries and domestic industries, such as energy-intensive paper, cement, fertilizer, steel, and glass manufacturers, are worried the increased cost burdens imposed by climate-change laws will put them at a severe competitive disadvantage to their international peers who aren't bound by similar environmental rules.
Environmentalists, however, have called for the endangerment finding, and say action by Congress or the Obama administration to curb greenhouse gases is necessary to halt the ill effects of climate change. |
