EPA closer to gas limits

EPA closer to gas limits

Clean Air Act may be used to lessen pollution from cars, power plants

H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press
Saturday, April 18, 2009

WASHINGTON - Cars, power plants and factories could all soon face much tougher pollution limits after a government declaration Friday setting the
stage for the first federal regulation of gases blamed for global warming.

The Environmental Protection Agency took a big step in that direction, concluding that carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases are a major
hazard to Americans' health. That was a reversal from the Bush administration, which resisted such a conclusion and said it would be costly for
companies to meet new emission limits and therefore could harm the national economy.

"In both magnitude and probability, climate change is an enormous problem, (and) the greenhouse gases that are responsible for it endanger public
health and welfare," said the EPA, concluding that the dangers warrant action under federal air pollution laws.

It was the first time the federal government had said it was ready to use the Clean Air Act to require power plants, cars and trucks to curtail their
release of climate-changing pollution, especially carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels.

The agency said the science pointing to human-made pollution as a cause of global warming is "compelling and overwhelming." It also said tailpipe
emissions from motor vehicles contribute.

The move could benefit Tennessee by giving a boost to companies such as Hemlock Semiconductor Corp. and Wacker Chemie AG that make green
technologies and by pushing carmakers, such as Nissan North America and General Motors Corp., to invest more money in fuel-efficient and electric
vehicles, some observers said.

"Over time, this is going to drive carmakers in the direction of more fuel efficiency because there's a close relationship between that and carbon
emission," said Mike Vandenbergh, a professor at Vanderbilt Law School who follows environmental regulation.

EPA regulation also will increase pressure on the Tennessee Valley Authority, which relies heavily on coal to generate electricity, to invest in
alternative energy, smart-grid technology and other efficiency improvements, said Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean
Energy in Knoxville.

"Efficiency, if done right, could actually reduce people's bills," he said. "I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that people are necessarily going to pay,
on the whole, more money."

TVA will comply with any new law or EPA regulations that result from the move, the seven-state utility said Friday in an e-mailed statement. Its 2008
environmental policy outlined a goal for the agency to generate half its power from low- or zero-carbon sources by 2020.

"TVA continues to take steps to reduce or avoid carbon emissions, including adding up to 2,000 megawatts of renewable and clean energy by 2011,
completing a second nuclear unit at Watts Bar, and increasing its energy-efficiency programs," the statement said.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson cautioned that regulations are not imminent and made clear that the Obama administration would prefer that Congress
address the climate issue through a broader "cap-and-trade" program that would limit heat-trapping pollution. But she said it was clear from the EPA
analysis "that greenhouse gas pollution is a serious problem now and for future generations" and steps are needed to curtail the impact.

Even if actual regulations are not imminent, the EPA action was seen as likely to encourage action on Capitol Hill. It's "a wake-up call for Congress" -
deal with it directly through legislation or let the EPA regulate, said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who chairs the Senate committee dealing with
climate legislation. If Congress doesn't move, Boxer said she would press EPA to take swift action.

Republicans and some centrist Democrats have been critical of proposed cap-and-trade climate legislation, arguing it would lead to much higher
energy prices. Such a measure could impose an economywide limit on greenhouse gas emissions but let individual companies or plants trade emission
allowances among each other.

House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio called EPA's move toward regulation "a backdoor attempt to enact a national energy tax that will have
a crushing impact on consumers, jobs and our economy." But environmentalists called the EPA action a watershed in addressing climate change.

Reaction from energy-intensive industries was quick and critical. "The proposed endangerment finding poses an endangerment to the American
economy and every American family," declared Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute.