EPA presses ahead with CO2 regulation

Nine months after delaying its decision, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has sent a proposal to the White House, asking to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant.

The Agency reportedly sent the proposal on Friday. The Office Of Information and Regulatory Affairs, part of the Office of Management and Budget, is now considering the document.

The proposal for an endangerment finding would clear the way for the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide, which could have significant effects on infrastructural projects, and on companies whose operations produce large amounts of the greenhouse gas. Regulating carbon dioxide is a step that the Bush administration fought hard to counter, arguing that existing legislation such as the Clean Air Act and Endangered Species Act should not be used to regulate something for which they were not originally intended.

The EPA has consistently fought against regulating CO2. Following a court case with Massachusetts in which it was forced to class CO2 as a pollutant and consider regulating it, it issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking last July, effectively delaying the decision until the new administration took office.

However, recently it has changed its approach on CO2. It had been battling California, which had originally asked for a waiver that would permit it to impose stricter penalties on carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles. In February, the Agency announced a hearing to consider reversing its position and granting the waiver.

Although he has publicly supported climate change mitigation measures, president Obama is nevertheless sceptical about using the Clean Air Act for this purpose, according to reports from Bloomberg. A White House spokesperson indicated that the president would prefer for legislation to be drafted that would create a market for renewable energy, clearly referring to the proposed cap-and-trade legislation for which Obama has already called.

Industry spokespeople were unenthusiastic about the EPA's proposal. William Kovacs, chairman of the US Chamber of Commerce, warned in an interview with the Washington Post that the measure could affect projects that were critical to the recovery of the economy.