The science has finally returned to the U.S. EPA. This past week the EPA announced that they have the authority to regulate green house gases under the Clean Air Act. The gases that are covered under the act include carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, perfluorocarbons, hydrofluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluroride.
U.S. EPA Building in Washington, D.C.
The EPA has found that the current and projected concentrations of these green house gases, threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations. These combined gases are from mobile sources, (all motor vehicles), and from stationary sources, (power plants and industrial manufacturing). Part of the prodding at EPA came from two sources. The first was a lawsuit that ended up in the U.S. Supreme Court, of Massachusetts v. EPA, where the court ruled that the U.S. EPA has the authority to regulate green hoses gases under the Clean Air Act. The second, is from the same court allowing for the EPA Administrator to evaluate the science, as to whether green house gases can endanger the public welfare. The EPA then opened a 60 day public comment period on the proposed findings that green house gases endanger the public welfare. Over 380,000 public comments were received by the EPA. From these comments, which included scientific research, the EPA came to the following conclusions: Greenhouse gases are affecting rising sea levels primarily on the East Coast and Gulf Coast states, and threaten human populations along those coasts. Water supplies and levels are being threatened by rising global temperatures, impacting snow packs and seasonal water supplies in the Western U.S.. Increasing weather variations on crop yields and forestry damage due to rising temperatures from global warming. Energy use will rise to offset higher temperatures. Ecosystems will shift their habitats to higher elevations and move north ward to offset higher temperatures. Climate change can exacerbate human migratory patterns and threaten the security of the U.S. EPA is using all of these issues as a mandate to finally act like the organization it was meant to be. If they can show a strong political resolve in actually reducing green house gas output in these United States, then we will be making a difference for ourselves and future generations. Right now its just talk, just show me the money on this one.
John Vlahakis
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