EPA Draft CO2 Emissions Regulations Headed Toward Regulatory Train Wreck

Washington, D.C., July 11, 2008—The White House announced today that the Environmental Protection Agency’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on regulating carbon dioxide emissions under the Clean Air Act would be open to public comment for 120 days. The White House’s criticisms of the EPA’s 588-page draft won praise from energy and global warming policy experts at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

Statement by Marlo Lewis, CEI Senior Fellow:

"The EPA notice, along with Administrator Johnson’s preface and the accompanying agency comments, all make one thing very clear–regulating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from new motor vehicles would trigger a regulatory cascade. It would trigger multiple Clean Air Act provisions that would dwarf in cost and intrusiveness every climate bill that Congress has ever considered but could never bring itself to approve. The 5-4 Supreme Court majority in Massachusetts v EPA that mandated EPA action either did not understand how the Clean Air Act works, or they sought to substitute their will for that of Congress."

Statement by Myron Ebell, Director of Energy and Global Warming Policy:

"The EPA notice released today for public comment makes it clear that using the Clean Air act to reduce carbon dioxide emissions would create a regulatory train wreck. It would lead to burdensome regulations throughout the economy and decades of litigation. Although consumer energy prices would skyrocket, it’s not clear that it would reduce emissions very much.

"A few days of debate on the Senate floor last month revealed that enacting cap-and-trade legislation would be a huge mistake. The EPA’s regulatory roadmap under the Clean Air Act is even worse. We urge Congress to stop the EPA before they take another step down this road to disaster."