-
-
Cleaner dumps Hirst installation
Conceptual artist Damien Hirst has announced the creation of a giant work to publicise the issue of green house gases in the atmosphere.
The artists will represent the amount of carbon dioxide he generates in year - around 15 tonnes - by arranging 441 empty gas canisters in a block.
The canisters, each of which is 6ft tall and formerly contained carbon dioxide, are arranged 24 mesh cages with an empty square at the centre.
Hirst, who has worked with environmental group Future Forests in recent years, said: "I just like the idea of being able to put something back."
"It just seems to be very direct and really straight forward, without being hippified.
"I was doing some work using gas cylinders and I started thinking about how much space that stuff filled.
"Then I thought it would be great to make something which actually physically shows your carbon dioxide emissions - otherwise it's just a figure on paper," said Hirst.
Future Forest's co-founder Dan Morrell said the support of the high-profile artist was important
"Pop culture has a huge communication capacity and Damien's ideas, along with those from the music community, have encouraged environmentalism in big corporations and government. Conceptual artist Damien Hirst has announced the creation of a giant work to publicise the issue of green house gases in the atmospher... more -
Seas turn to acid as they soak up CO2
The Bay of Naples is renowned for its breathtaking beauty and glittering clear waters. For centuries, tourists have flocked to the region to experience its glories.
But beneath the waves, scientists have uncovered an alarming secret. They have found streams of gas bubbling up from the seabed around the island of Ischia. 'The waters are like a Jacuzzi - there is so much carbon dioxide fizzing up from the seabed,' said Dr Jason Hall-Spencer, of Plymouth University. 'Millions of litres of gas bubble up every day.'
The gas streams have turned Ischia's waters into acid, and this has had a major impact on sea life and aquatic plants. Now marine biologists fear that the world's seas could follow suit.
'Every day the oceans absorb more than 25m tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,' said Hall-Spencer. 'If it were not for the oceans, levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere would be far higher than they are today and the impact of climate change would be far worse. However, there is a downside: it is called ocean acidification.'
Scientists calculate that the seas are absorbing so much carbon dioxide that they are 30 per cent more acidic than they were at the start of the Industrial Revolution. The change is three times greater and has happened 100 times faster than at any other time during the past 20 million years.
Tomorrow hundreds of scientists will gather in Monaco for the 'Second International Symposium on the Ocean in a High CO2 World'. One focus of debate is likely to be the Plymouth study. The seas off Ischia - which are affected by carbon dioxide from volcanic activity - offer a first-class opportunity to investigate what might happen in the next few decades.
Scientists found that in Ischia's highly acidic water:
• Biodiversity of plants and fish has dropped by 30 per cent
• Algae vital for binding coral reefs have been wiped out
• Invasive 'alien' species, such as sea-grasses, are thriving
• Coral and sea urchins have been destroyed, while mussels and clams are failing to grow shells.
The conference will also tackle the dangers posed to fish larvae, which are sensitive to high levels of acid, as well as the threat to commercial fish stocks.
'Many developing countries have seafood as their prime source of food,' said Dr Carol Turley, of the Plymouth Marine Laboratory. 'If they lose that, the result could be famine.' The Bay of Naples is renowned for its breathtaking beauty and glittering clear waters. For centuries, tourists have flocked to the reg... more -
Rich nations' greenhouse gases fell in 2006: survey
OSLO (Reuters) - Rich nations' greenhouse gas emissions dipped for the first time in five years in 2006, easing 0.1 percent despite robust economic growth, a Reuters survey of the latest available information showed Friday.
The figures were less gloomy than a report this week, based on scientist estimates to 2007, which said world emissions were surging, led by rocketing growth in poor countries such as China and India twinned with a tiny rise by industrialized nations.
The Reuters survey, of data submitted by 40 industrialized nations to the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat and against which the U.N. judges compliance on cutting emissions, indicated 2006 emissions fell to the equivalent of 18.01 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from 18.03 billion in 2005.
A mild U.S. winter cut demand for energy for heating while rising oil prices were a possible factor restraining growth.
Most experts reckoned that a drive for energy efficiency by rich nations has stalled in recent years, despite programs to fight global warming.
And economic growth, estimated at 3 percent for advanced economies in 2006 by the International Monetary Fund, had been expected to push up emissions.
"It's a bit surprising to find a fall for 2006," said Knut Alfsen, research director of the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research in Oslo.
Overall emissions by developing nations last declined in 2001, when the September 11 suicide hijacker attacks on the United States aggravated an economic slowdown. Continued... OSLO (Reuters) - Rich nations' greenhouse gas emissions dipped for the first time in five years in 2006, easing 0.1 percent despi... more -
Greenhouse gas emissions shock scientists
The world pumped up emissions of the chief human-produced global warming gas last year, setting a course that could push beyond leading scientists' projected worst-case scenario, international researchers said Thursday.
The new numbers, which some scientists called "scary," were a surprise because experts thought an economic downturn would slow energy use. Instead, carbon dioxide output rose 3% from 2006 to 2007.
That amount exceeds the most dire outlook for emissions from burning coal and oil and related activities as projected by a Nobel Prize-winning group of international scientists in 2007.
Meanwhile, forests and oceans, which suck up carbon dioxide, are doing so at lower rates, scientists said. If those trends continue, the world will be on track for the highest predicted rises in temperature and sea level.
The U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that an increase of between 3.2 and 9.7 degrees Fahrenheit could trigger massive environmental changes, including melting of the Greenland ice sheet, the Himalayan-Tibetan glaciers and summer sea ice in the Arctic.
Corinne Le Quere, professor of environmental sciences at the University of East Anglia and the British Antarctic Survey, said the prediction that current emissions put the planet on track for a temperature rise of more than 11 degrees means the world could face a dangerous rise in sea level as well as other drastic changes.
Richard Moss, vice president and managing director for climate change at the World Wildlife Fund, said the new carbon figures and research showed that "we're already locked into more warming than we thought."
"We should be worried -- really worried," Moss told the Washington Post. "This is happening in the context of trying to reduce emissions."
The new data also shows that forests and oceans, which naturally take up much of the carbon dioxide humans emit, are having less impact. These "natural sinks" have absorbed 54% of carbon dioxide emissions released since 2000, a drop of 3 percentage points compared with the period between 1959 and 2000.
The pollution leader was China, followed by the United States, which past data show is the leader in emissions per person in carbon dioxide output. And although several developed countries slightly reduced output in 2007, the U.S. churned out more.
Still, it was large increases from China, India and other developing countries that spurred the growth of carbon dioxide pollution to a record high of 9.34 billion tons of carbon. Figures released by science agencies in the U.S., Great Britain and Australia show that China's added emissions accounted for more than half of the worldwide increase. China passed the U.S. as the No. 1 carbon dioxide polluter in 2006.
Emissions in the U.S. rose nearly 2% in 2007, after declining the previous year. The U.S. produced 1.75 billion tons of carbon.
"Things are happening very, very fast," Le Quere told the Associated Press. "It's scary."
Gregg Marland, a senior staff scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, said he was surprised at the results because he thought world emissions would drop because of the economic downturn. That didn't happen.
"If we're going to do something [about reducing emissions], it's got to be different than what we're doing," he said.
_______________
Very disappointing. This should be a wake up call to industry and politicians.
The status quo must go. Time to put on more pressure. The world pumped up emissions of the chief human-produced global warming gas last year, setting a course that could push beyond leadin... more -
The methane time bomb
The first evidence that millions of tons of a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide is being released into the atmosphere from beneath the Arctic seabed has been discovered by scientists.
The Independent has been passed details of preliminary findings suggesting that massive deposits of sub-sea methane are bubbling to the surface as the Arctic region becomes warmer and its ice retreats.
Underground stores of methane are important because scientists believe their sudden release has in the past been responsible for rapid increases in global temperatures, dramatic changes to the climate, and even the mass extinction of species. Scientists aboard a research ship that has sailed the entire length of Russia's northern coast have discovered intense concentrations of methane – sometimes at up to 100 times background levels – over several areas covering thousands of square miles of the Siberian continental shelf.
In the past few days, the researchers have seen areas of sea foaming with gas bubbling up through "methane chimneys" rising from the sea floor. They believe that the sub-sea layer of permafrost, which has acted like a "lid" to prevent the gas from escaping, has melted away to allow methane to rise from underground deposits formed before the last ice age.
They have warned that this is likely to be linked with the rapid warming that the region has experienced in recent years.
Methane is about 20 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide and many scientists fear that its release could accelerate global warming in a giant positive feedback where more atmospheric methane causes higher temperatures, leading to further permafrost melting and the release of yet more methane.
The amount of methane stored beneath the Arctic is calculated to be greater than the total amount of carbon locked up in global coal reserves so there is intense interest in the stability of these deposits as the region warms at a faster rate than other places on earth.
Dr Semiletov has suggested several possible reasons why methane is now being released from the Arctic, including the rising volume of relatively warmer water being discharged from Siberia's rivers due to the melting of the permafrost on the land.
The Arctic region as a whole has seen a 4C rise in average temperatures over recent decades and a dramatic decline in the area of the Arctic Ocean covered by summer sea ice. Many scientists fear that the loss of sea ice could accelerate the warming trend because open ocean soaks up more heat from the sun than the reflective surface of an ice-covered sea. The first evidence that millions of tons of a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide is being released into the atmos... more -
Chicago to slash greenhouse gases - Climate Change- msnbc.com
CHICAGO - Mayor Richard M. Daley has announced a plan to dramatically slash emissions of heat-trapping gases, part of an effort to fight global warming and become one of the greenest cities in the nation.
The plan calls for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to three-fourths of 1990 levels by 2020 through more energy-efficient buildings, using clean and renewable energy sources, improving transportation and reducing industrial pollution.
"We can't solve the world's climate change problem in Chicago, but we can do our part," said Daley on Thursday. "We have a shared responsibility to protect our planet." CHICAGO - Mayor Richard M. Daley has announced a plan to dramatically slash emissions of heat-trapping gases, part of an effort to fig... more -
Chicago outlines plan to slash greenhouse gases
Mayor Richard M. Daley announced a plan Thursday to dramatically slash emissions of heat-trapping gases — to three-fourths of 1990 levels by 2020 and to one-fifth of 1990 levels by 2050 — as part of an effort to become one of the greenest cities in the nation.
The plan calls for making buildings more energy efficient, finding clean and renewable energy sources, improving transportation and reducing industrial pollution. Daley was one of 800 mayors who agreed in late 2006 to cut emissions in accordance with the Kyoto Protocol.
Officials say Chicago emits 34.6 million metric tons of greenhouse gases each year; including the six surrounding counties, that climbs to 103 million metric tons per year.
If Chicago does not reduce emissions, summer heat indexes in the city could climb as high as 105 degrees — similar to those in Mobile, Ala. — by the end of the century, according to researchers from Texas Tech University in Lubbock and the University of Illinois who were commissioned by the city to study climate change.
Since 1980, Chicago's average temperature has risen approximately 2.6 degrees, 4 degrees in the winter.
"What stands out to people is, how likely will you see a 1995-like heat wave again in the future?" said Katharine Hayhoe, a Texas Tech geosciences researcher. "We don't want to suggest that type of future is inevitable because it's not, but if we wait until that happens, then it is inevitable."
During the Chicago heat wave of 1995, the mercury spiked at 106 degrees and about 600 people died.
In similar research, scientists with the Netherlands Meteorological Institute found earlier this year that by the end of the century, high temperatures in Chicago would reach 115 degrees.
The city concedes that it won't be able to avoid future climate change entirely. The plan lists ways Chicago will deal with any coming climate change, including implementing a heat warning system, reducing summer energy use, improving air quality, preparing for increases in rainfall and flooding, reducing erosion along Lake Michigan's shoreline and planting vegetation that can adapt to climate change. Mayor Richard M. Daley announced a plan Thursday to dramatically slash emissions of heat-trapping gases — to three-fourths of 1990 lev... more -
Book Proposes Large-Scale Strategies for Conservation, Global Warming, and the Env...
New book looks at large-scale strategies for the environment. Its author, Mark C. Henderson, argues that such approaches are our best hope for a green future.
He argues that simple economic changes could deliver huge gains for the green agenda and even start a worldwide environmental revolution. From a number of political and economic principles, he develops a comprehensive and large-scale strategy which could address many environmental problems at very little cost.
The book is for both a general and a more advanced audience. Excerpts, the table of contents, and details are available at the following website:
http://wavesofthefuture.net/excerpts.php
http://wavesofthefuture.net/table_of_contents.php
http://wavesofthefuture.net/
http://wavesofthefuture.net/wavesofthefuture_net_-_blog...
Henderson, Mark C. (2008). The 21st Century Environmental Revolution: A Comprehensive Strategy for Conservation, Global Warming, and the Environment / The Fourth Wave. Waves of the Future. 188 pages. Trade Paperback. ISBN (0980998905)
Waves of the Future is a publisher that focuses on global issues and the environment.
Contacts:
Waves of the Future
Email: “About Us” page at the website below.
Website: http://wavesofthefuture.net
### New book looks at large-scale strategies for the environment. Its author, Mark C. Henderson, argues that such approaches are our best ... more -
Canadian oil lobby meets with Obama behind closed doors
"If you don't like the oil sands oil, what companies will do [in Canada] is build a bigger pipeline to the west coast and export it to China and India," warned a lobbyist for Nexen Energy, which has "major investments" in the oil sands region of Alberta, Canada. He was attending the U.S. Democratic National Convention, where oil sands backers held a closed-door meeting with presidential candidate Barack Obama and his top energy advisor, Jason Grumet. Grumet had earlier blasted oil sands oil for having "a much greater impact on climate change." Extraction from oil sands produces three times as much greenhouse gas emissions as traditional oil extraction. Canadian cabinet minister Tony Clement, who was in the closed-door meeting with Obama, said, "We have to be more aggressive in representing Canadian values and interests in the American political scene." Nexen has hired former U.S. ambassador to Canada Gordon Giffin as a Washington, DC based oil sands lobbyist. The industry is powerful in Canada. In July alone, oil sands industry representatives held 36 meetings with Canadian ministers and government officials. "If you don't like the oil sands oil, what companies will do [in Canada] is build a bigger pipeline to the west coast and ex... more
-
Flat-screen TV gases may be added to climate fight
New greenhouse gases emitted in making flat-screen televisions or some refrigerants might be capped under a planned U.N. treaty to combat global warming, delegates at U.N. talks in Ghana said on Friday.
Emissions of the recently developed industrial gases, including nitrogen trifluoride and fluorinated ethers, are estimated at just 0.3 percent of emissions of conventional greenhouse gases by rich nations. But the emissions are surging.
"I think it's a good idea" to add new gases to a group of six already capped by the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol for slowing global warming, Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, told Reuters.
"It makes sense to address all gases that lead to climate change," he said on the sidelines of the August 21-27 talks in Ghana meant to help work out details of a new treaty to combat global warming due to be agreed at the end of 2009.
"The more gases you cover, the greater flexibility countries have" to work out how best to cut back, he said. He added that it was up to governments to decide.
More than 190 nations have agreed to work out a broad new pact to succeed Kyoto as part of a drive to avert rising temperatures likely to bring more heatwaves, floods, desertification and rising seas.
De Boer said the European Union had originally, in negotiations more than a decade ago that led to Kyoto, favored limiting the treaty to carbon dioxide, emitted by burning fossil fuels in factories, power plants and cars.***continues** New greenhouse gases emitted in making flat-screen televisions or some refrigerants might be capped under a planned U.N. treaty to com... more -
UK scientist: 'Prepare for extinction'
We need to get prepared for four degrees of global warming, Bob Watson told the Guardian last week. At first sight this looks like wise counsel from the climate science adviser to Defra. But the idea that we could adapt to a 4C rise is absurd and dangerous. Global warming on this scale would be a catastrophe that would mean, in the immortal words that Chief Seattle probably never spoke, "the end of living and the beginning of survival" for humankind. Or perhaps the beginning of our extinction.
The collapse of the polar ice caps would become inevitable, bringing long-term sea level rises of 70-80 metres. All the world's coastal plains would be lost, complete with ports, cities, transport and industrial infrastructure, and much of the world's most productive farmland. The world's geography would be transformed much as it was at the end of the last ice age, when sea levels rose by about 120 metres to create the Channel, the North Sea and Cardigan Bay out of dry land. Weather would become extreme and unpredictable, with more frequent and severe droughts, floods and hurricanes. The Earth's carrying capacity would be hugely reduced. Billions would undoubtedly die.
Watson's call was supported by the government's former chief scientific adviser, Sir David King, who warned that "if we get to a four-degree rise it is quite possible that we would begin to see a runaway increase". This is a remarkable understatement. The climate system is already experiencing significant feedbacks, notably the summer melting of the Arctic sea ice. The more the ice melts, the more sunshine is absorbed by the sea, and the more the Arctic warms. And as the Arctic warms, the release of billions of tonnes of methane – a greenhouse gas 70 times stronger than carbon dioxide over 20 years – captured under melting permafrost is already under way. We need to get prepared for four degrees of global warming, Bob Watson told the Guardian last week. At first sight this looks like wis... more -
Household waste to power cars
Chemical company Ineos develops technology to make bioethanol from waste.
With soaring oil prices and government policy drives to run car fleets on cleaner energy sources that emit fewer greenhouse gases, biofuels are growing in popularity. But with land being used to grow biofuel rather than food crops the shine has come off their green credentials.
Chemicals company Ineos thinks it has cracked the fuel v food debate with new technology that produces bioethanol from waste. Chemical company Ineos develops technology to make bioethanol from waste. ... more -
States, environmentalists to sue EPA over greenhouse gases
California, New York City, three other states and a coalition of environmental groups will file notice Thursday that they'll sue the Environmental Protection Agency to push it to regulate pollution from ocean ships and aircraft that's causing global warming.
Under the Clean Air Act, a U.S. district court can compel the EPA to take action to protect the public's welfare if the agency delays doing so for an unreasonably long time. The law requires that a notice of intent to sue be filed 180 days in advance, the step that the groups are taking now.
The timing means that any suit would be filed after President Bush leaves office. The groups concluded that they couldn't guess what the next administration would do and should be ready to sue if necessary, said Jackie Savitz of Oceana, a group that's devoted to protecting the world's oceans.
"It's basically what we have to do to maintain our progress going forward to get ships and aircraft regulated," she said. California, New York City, three other states and a coalition of environmental groups will file notice Thursday that they'll sue ... more -
EPA tells staffers not to talk to congress
"The Environmental Protection Agency is advising certain staff members not to talk to congressional investigators, reporters or even the agency's inspector general, according to an internal email obtained by the Associated Press.
The email, dated June 16, tells 11 officials in the EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance to remind its staff to not respond to questions or make any statements, according to an AP story Monday afternoon.
The agency has been locked in a battle for months with congressional Democrats over the Bush administration's policy regulating greenhouse gasses.
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer insists that EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson had informed President Bush that high levels of man-made pollutants were causing global warming, which by law would have required that the government regulate the gases.
The EPA emailed the findings of a report on the subject to the White House in December, but the White House declined to open the email.
White House officials have previously said they were unable to open the email, an explanation that has not sat well with congressional Democrats.
The watchdog organization Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility obtained the
e-mail and provided it to the AP.
Jeff Ruch, the group's executive director, told the AP the document reinforces what he called a "bunker
mentality" within EPA.
EPA officals told the AP the memo was aimed at improving efficiency.
Boxer has scheduled a press conference for 2pm Tuesday to discuss the matter." "The Environmental Protection Agency is advising certain staff members not to talk to congressional investigators, reporters or e... more -
Man Is Not An Island
President Bush is telling us that "the only way" to lower gas prices is to drill more off-shore oil wells to provide even more fossil energy.
I believe most Americans are aware that a deep water oil field does not appear in a day or a month or a year. Historically it has taken a decade before a deep water oil source reaches any sort of useful production levels.
For the vast number of human beings, who sense that we are on the precipice of distinction because of global warming, the thought of burning ever increasing amounts of fossil fuel is frightening.
The parable about teaching a man to fish might be applied to renewable energy. More gas only leads to more gas. A solar collector leads to clean free energy.
We need a whole lot less polluting gasoline and a whole lot more clean renewable energy.
Our real problem is not high gas prices. Our real problem is survival. President Bush is telling us that "the only way" to lower gas prices is to drill more off-shore oil wells to provide even mo... more -
Don't Get Mad - Get Even
Globally speaking, billions of human beings despise our commander and desider. If you feel that our installed leader has been a hindrance to the furtherance of mankind, then enjoy the toy available on the above link. Globally speaking, billions of human beings despise our commander and desider. If you feel that our installed leader has been a hindra... more
-
Pity the polar bear - we don't want more oil
Bush and the Republicans, along with our good friends at the oil companies, want to make you believe that "the only answer" to high gas prices is to drill more oil wells and burn more gasoline.
If we are smart we will realize that we want just the opposite. We really want to quickly develop renewable energy sources where we pay once and get free energy thereafter.
These pictures break my heart. They also foretell of what we will soon look like as a species if we continue to burn fossil fuels and worsen global warming. Bush and the Republicans, along with our good friends at the oil companies, want to make you believe that "the only answer" ... more -
Global Warming Can Be Controlled
New research indicates that hacking the atmosphere -- pumping microscopic particles into the stratosphere or clouds to block sunlight and offset global warming caused by greenhouse gases -- is imminently possible. The problem is we could never, ever stop doing it.
Look at Edmond Teller paper from as early as 1972. Teller invented the H-Bomb.
http://www.rense.com/general18/scatteringEdTellerwithno...
CO2 is essential to plant growth. Increased levels of CO2 may increase world crop yields if we can control the earth's surface temperature. New research indicates that hacking the atmosphere -- pumping microscopic particles into the stratosphere or clouds to block sunlight ... more -
Climate Change could mean Global Political Instability
"Without curbs on greenhouse gas emissions, the volume of warming pollution worldwide could hit 42.3 billion metric tons per year by 2030—a 51 percent increase over present levels, according to a report released this week by the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration. This gloomy, worst-case scenario also foresees oil prices of $186 per barrel and a world that consumes 50 percent more energy, mostly fossil fuels. Such a lack of action could also lead to global instability, according to a classified National Intelligence Assessment report (pdf) presented to Congress this week by the U.S.'s 16 intelligence agencies. The report concludes that climate change over the next two decades will contribute to political instability in Africa and Asia, due to changing rainfall patterns or an increase in extreme weather. The U.S. would remain relatively unaffected—other than some thawing in Alaska, water shortages in the Southwest and storm surges on the eastern and southern coasts. The U.S., however, may benefit from increased crop yields, although its military may be stretched dealing with global "humanitarian emergencies" (spawned by devastating natural disasters and regional conflicts)." "Without curbs on greenhouse gas emissions, the volume of warming pollution worldwide could hit 42.3 billion metric tons per year... more
-
US Administration won't regulate greenhouse gases
The Bush administration, dismissing the recommendations of its top experts, rejected regulating the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming Friday, saying it would cripple the U.S. economy.
Members of the G-8 meet this week to discuss a number of issues, including climate change.
In a 588-page federal notice, the Environmental Protection Agency made no finding on whether global warming poses a threat to people's health or welfare, reversing an earlier conclusion at the insistence of the White House and officially kicking any decision on a solution to the next president and Congress.
The White House on Thursday rejected the EPA's suggestion three weeks earlier that the 1970 Clean Air Act can be both workable and effective for addressing global climate change. The EPA said Friday that law is "ill-suited" for dealing with global warming.
"If our nation is truly serious about regulating greenhouse gases, the Clean Air Act is the wrong tool for the job," EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson told reporters. "It is really at the feet of Congress."
White House press secretary Dana Perino said President Bush is committed to further reductions but that there is a "right way and a wrong way to deal with climate change."
The wrong way is "to sharply increase gasoline prices, home heating bills and the cost of energy for American businesses," she said. "The right way, as the president has proposed, is to invest in new technologies."
At the just concluded G-8 summit at Toyako, Japan, Bush and other world leaders called for a voluntary 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gases worldwide by 2050 but offered no specifics on how to do it.
In a setback for Bush, the Supreme Court ruled last year that the government had the authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gases as a pollutant. Bush has consistently opposed doing that.
Congress hasn't found the will to do much about the problem either. Supporters of regulating greenhouse gases could get only 48 votes in the 100-member Senate last month. The House has held several hearings on the problem but no votes on any bill addressing it. Both major presidential candidates, Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, have endorsed variations of the approach rejected by the Senate.
In its voluminous document, the EPA laid out a buffet of options on how to reduce greenhouse gases from cars, ships, trains, power plants, factories and refineries. On Friday, Johnson said the proposals drafted by his staff put "a square peg into a round hole" and he said moving forward would be irresponsible.
"One point is clear: The potential regulation of greenhouse gases under any portion of the Clean Air Act could result in unprecedented expansion of EPA authority that would have a profound effect on virtually every sector of the economy and touch every household in the land," Johnson wrote in the document's preface.
Attorneys general from several states called the administration's findings inadequate.
"While we appreciate the effort that EPA staff made in putting together today's documents, the time has long passed for open-ended pondering -- what we need now is action," said Attorney General Martha Coakley of Massachusetts, which initiated the Supreme Court case.
The EPA said it had encountered resistance from the Agriculture, Commerce, Energy and Transportation departments, as well as the White House, that made it "impossible" to respond in a timely fashion to the Supreme Court decision.
"Our agencies have serious concerns with this suggestion because it does not fairly recognize the enormous -- and, we believe, insurmountable -- burdens, difficulties, and costs, and likely limited benefits, of using the Clean Air Act" to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, the secretaries of the four agencies wrote to the White House on Wednesday. The Bush administration, dismissing the recommendations of its top experts, rejected regulating the greenhouse gases blamed for global... more
-
related topics
Greenhouse Gases
Contributors (205)
Greenhouse Gases
