EPA's Endangerment Finding Marks First Step Toward Global Warming Solutions Under the Clean Air Act

The Center for Biological Diversity
issued the following statement today from Executive Director Kieran Suckling as
the Environmental Protection Agency released its finding that greenhouse gas
pollution constitutes a threat to public
health and welfare under the Clean Air Act:

"Today's
announcement from the Environmental Protection Agency demonstrates the power of
the Clean Air Act to curb global warming. We applaud the EPA for moving forward
to implement one of our nation's most successful environmental laws to avert
catastrophic runaway global warming.

"Now the Clean
Air Act must be put to full use to address the crisis of climate change. As
President Obama heads to Copenhagen, his hands are not tied by the
tragically weak cap-and-trade bills being debated in Congress. President Obama
needs to lead, not follow. Today's decision clearly shows that his
administration already has the legal tools to achieve deep and rapid greenhouse
emissions reductions from major polluters, consistent with what science demands,
through the Clean Air Act. The next step is for EPA to issue pollution-reduction rules for vehicles,
smokestacks, and other polluters, and to set a science-based national pollution
cap for greenhouse gases."

Last week, the Center for Biological
Diversity and 350.org petitioned the EPA to set national limits for carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gas pollution under the Clean Air Act. The petition
seeks to enforce a central provision of the Act that requires EPA to designate
"criteria" air pollutants, set national pollution limits for these pollutants to
protect the public health and welfare, and assist the states in carrying out
plans to reduce emissions from major pollution sources to attain or maintain the
national standards.

The petition seeks to have seven
greenhouse gases designated as "criteria" air pollutants and atmospheric
CO₂ capped at 350 parts per million (ppm), the level leading
scientists say is necessary to avoid the worst impacts of global
warming.

Emissions-reduction targets
announced by Obama in the lead-up to Copenhagen, which mirror the targets in the
climate bill passed by the House of Representatives earlier this year, have
virtually no chance of avoiding dangerous climate change. Combined with other
countries' proposals on the table in Copenhagen, CO₂ concentrations would increase to more than 650 parts per
million.[1] In contrast, the Clean Air Act, fully
implemented, could put us on track to reducing CO₂ to below
350 ppm.

Click here
to read the petition for a national pollution cap under the Clean Air Act.

[1] Copenhagen deal headed for 3.5degC
warming

| 3 Dec 2009
https://www.climateactiontracker.org/news.php