WASHINGTON AND LOS ANGELES — The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday declared that industrial greenhouse gases are a danger to human health and well-being, opening the way to broad new regulations to reduce carbon dioxide and other planet-heating gases.
The finding could lead to far-reaching rules that are likely to heavily affect cars and trucks, which account for nearly a quarter of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions, and utilities, which are responsible for more than a third.
Virtually all major areas of the economy could be affected, including oil, chemicals, cement, steel, forestry and large-scale farming.
The EPA finding marks a sharp change in direction from the Bush administration, which cast doubt on the science behind climate change and sought to delay government intervention. It also sends a strong signal to other nations that the U.S. is prepared to slash its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions as diplomats prepare for a December gathering in Copenhagen to negotiate a new treaty on climate change.
It also exerts pressure on Congress to move forward on comprehensive climate change legislation. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills), co-author of a bill to create a national market to cap emissions and allow trading of credits, praised the EPA action but said it would be up to Congress to "break our dependence on foreign sources of energy and help transform our economy."
EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said addressing the climate issue would "create millions of green jobs and end our country's dependence on foreign oil."
But opponents of such regulation warn that it will further hurt an ailing economy. The House's top-ranking Republican, Rep. John A. Boehner of Ohio, called the EPA's finding "a backdoor attempt to enact a national energy tax."
The proposed "endangerment finding," which would be finalized after a 60-day comment period, was prompted by a Supreme Court decision in 2007 that ordered the EPA to review scientific evidence for regulating climate-altering gases under the Clean Air Act. If Congress failed to pass legislation, the agency could move forward on its own.
"The Obama administration now has the legal equivalent of a .44 magnum" to force congressional action, noted Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch. "The bullets aren't loaded yet, but they could be."
