Word: epas
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...That's where the endangered puppy comes in. As momentous as the EPA's decision was - the finding stated "in both magnitude and probability, climate change is an enormous problem" - no one actually wants the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases. Not even Jackson or Obama, both of whom have repeatedly stated that they would much prefer Congress to set limits on greenhouse gas emissions directly, most likely through a cap-and-trade program. Most environmentalists feel the same way. The problem is getting cap-and-trade passed in Congress; most Republicans are against it on the grounds that it might...
...possibility that in the face of congressional inaction the EPA might take matters into its own hands and directly regulate greenhouse gases can be seen as a not so subtle threat. Either act on your own, or let an EPA bureaucrat do it for you. Said Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch: "If business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce continue to oppose congressional action, they ought to ask themselves, in the immortal words of Clint Eastwood, Do you feel lucky?" (See pictures of the world's most polluted places...
...EPA's move on Friday was characterized by the top global warming analyst for the National Wildlife Federation as the "single largest step the Federal Government had taken to fight climate change." But there is still a long way to go before the agency may undertake what would be the most far-reaching environmental regulation in U.S. history. The EPA's finding triggers a 60-day public-comment period before any proposed regulations could be announced, and most observers expect it would take months, if not years, for the EPA to produce rules that could control the 7.3 billion metric...
...Regardless of how long it takes, the mere possibility of EPA action at least signals to the rest of the world that the U.S., after years of lagging, is finally moving to address global warming on a federal level. That could bear fruit at the U.N. climate-change summit at the end of the year. "Clearly, this demonstrates the U.S. is getting to work on climate change," says Emily Figdor, the federal global-warming program director for Environment America...
...every observer believes the implicit threat of EPA regulation will be enough to force cap-and-trade opponents to fall in line. After all, the main criticism of cap-and-trade is that it may result in a rise in energy prices as carbon becomes more expensive (indeed, making fossil fuels more costly relative to clean renewable fuels is the point). Advocates argue that new green jobs created by acting on climate change will more than offset the price of cap-and-trade and that, in any case, the long-term cost of delaying on global warming will...