EPA Aims To Declare CO2 Endangerment In Mid-April -Source

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering officially announcing that carbon dioxide is a danger to the public – a finding that would trigger regulation of the greenhouse gas across sectors of the economy – in mid-April, an Obama administration official close to the matter said Tuesday.

By making such a declaration, also known as an “endangerment finding,” Clean Air Act laws would force the agency to draft rules for emitters across industry. It could create a legal basis for challenging nearly every emitting source, though EPA chief Lisa Jackson has said the agency would restrict rules to major emitters such as coal generation, cement and chemical plants, refineries and a raft of other energy-intensive industries.


“The agency is moving forward aggressively…and is trying to make that determination quickly,” the official told Dow Jones Newswires.

Earlier Tuesday, the agency proposed a nationwide system for reporting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions by major emitters.

The registry, which was originally proposed in a 2007 energy bill and is funded in President Barack Obama’s 2010 budget outline, would lay the foundation for regulation of CO2 and other gases thought to contribute to global warming.

Dow Jones Newswire