EPA to decide if greenhouse gases need regulation

According to the Washington Post, EPA administrator Lisa Jackson told the AP that the Agency would soon be evaluating if greenhouse gases should be regulated: "We are going to be making a fairly significant finding about what these gases mean for public health and the welfare of our country." I think we know what that fairly significant finding will be, now that science is back in the White House.

The Administrator specifically mentioned the Bush Administration's neglect of the issue and stated that "If EPA is going to talk and speak in this game, the first thing it should speak about is whether carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger human health and welfare," she said. "It is a very fundamental question." This regulatory ability is within the Clean Air Act. It's obvious to anyone with a brain what Jackson meant when she said "it is clear that the Clean Air Act has a mechanism in it for other pollutants to be addressed."

Or let's make it more clear. According to ClimateProgress, "In an email to EPA employees, Administrator Lisa Jackson wrote of “five priorities that will receive my personal attention” — the first of which is “Reducing greenhouse gas emissions...As Congress does its work [on global warming legislation], we will move ahead to comply with the Supreme Court’s decision recognizing EPA’s obligation to address climate change under the Clean Air Act."

Other steps that the new Obama Administration has taken regarding greenhouse gases (quotes from the article)

• In his first week in office, President Barack Obama directed the agency to review a decision by the Bush administration denying California and other states the right to control greenhouse gases from automobiles.
• On Tuesday, the EPA announced it was reviewing a Bush policy that prohibits using the federal permit process to require new coal-fired power plants to install equipment to reduce carbon dioxide, the most prevalent greenhouse gas.

Not mentioned in the WashPo article, the Obama Administration has also required a review of Transportation policies related to greenhouse gas emissions and has included green energy and updates to public transportation in the recovery plan.