Washington, D.C., July 22, 2008—This morning the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will be investigating the White House’s strategy on the regulation of greenhouse gases and, in particular, the Environmental Protection Agency’s response to the Supreme Court verdict in Massachusetts v. EPA (2007).
Earlier this month, the Environmental Protection Agency
released a “staff draft” for public comment on possible ways to regulate
greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, in response to the Supreme Court’s
verdict. In the preface, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson makes clear that the
document, known as an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR), demonstrates
that the Clean Air Act is ill-suited for the task of regulating global
greenhouse gases (GHGs).
“Johnson not only affirmed that the regulatory alternatives discussed in the ANPR are not EPA decisions or policy recommendations, he also attached to his preface the reviews of several other agencies — all sharply critical of proposals to regulate GHG emissions under the Clean Air Act,” said Competitive Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis.
Johnson warned that if EPA were to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles under the Clean Air Act, as sought by the plaintiffs in Mass. v. EPA, regulation of smaller GHG sources, such as apartment buildings, large homes, schools, and hospitals, could also be triggered. The potential regulation of GHGs under the Clean Air Act could result in an unprecedented expansion of EPA authority.
“The ANPR, along with Johnson’s preface and the accompanying agency comments, all make one thing very clear — setting GHG emission standards for new motor vehicles under Section 202 the Clean Air Act would open a regulatory Pandora’s Box,” said Lewis. “It would trigger a regulatory cascade through multiple Clean Air Act provisions that would dwarf in cost and intrusiveness every climate bill that Congress in its wisdom has so far declined to pass.”
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