In an announcement timed to coincide with the international climate conference, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that they’ve concluded that greenhouse gases are endangering public health, and that they must be regulated. The “endangerment finding” is a necessary step before the EPA can regulate carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases that are released by gasoline-powered vehicles, power plants and factories.
“These long-overdue findings cement 2009’s place in history as the year when the United States Government began addressing the challenge of greenhouse-gas pollution and seizing the opportunity of clean-energy reform,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “Business leaders, security experts, government officials, concerned citizens and the United States Supreme Court have called for enduring, pragmatic solutions to reduce the greenhouse gas pollution that is causing climate change. This continues our work towards clean energy reform that will cut GHGs and reduce the dependence on foreign oil that threatens our national security and our economy.”
This now paves the way for the EPA to finalize the GHG standards that they produced earlier this year for light-duty vehicles. Visit the following site for more information on EPA’s findings: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/endangerment.htm
