EPA makes move to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a finding today that six greenhouse gases cause air pollution that may endanger public health or welfare. The finding also found that emissions from motor vehicles contribute to the concentration of three of those gases, which contributes to climate change.
Air pollution is regulated under the federal Clean Air Act, so this finding is a step toward the EPA implementing regulation of carbon dioxide, which it the primary gas responsible for global warming.
This is a big deal for New Mexico, as the proposed Desert Rock coal-fired power plant in the Four Corners region received an air quality permit from the EPA under the Bush administration, despite protests by the state of New Mexico, environmental organizations and local citizens of the Navajo Nation that the EPA had not considered the impact of carbon dioxide released from the plant into the atmosphere. The the leadership of the greater Navajo Nation itself strongly supports the project.
That air quality permit is currently being appealed by the state of New Mexico.
The six gases are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride.
According to the EPA news release, science “clearly shows” that these gases are at unprecedented concentration levels as the result of human emissions, and that these levels are “very likely” the cause of increased climate temperatures.
The finding states that “In both magnitude and probability, climate change is an enormous problem. The greenhouse gases that are responsible for it endanger public health and welfare within the meaning of the Clean Air Act.”
The EPA statement also said science shows a link between climate change and negative effects on human health. These impacts included higher concentrations of ground-level ozone; increased drought; more heavy downpours and flooding; more frequent and intense heat waves and wildfires; greater sea level rise; more intense storms; and harm to water resources, agriculture, wildlife and ecosystems.
Additionally, the statement said, new EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson took into account the disproportionate impact of these impacts on the health of certain groups of people, “…such as the poor, the very young, the elderly, those already in poor health, the disabled, those living alone and/or indigenous populations dependent on one or a few resources.”
The EPA also stated that global warming is a national security issue as resources like water become more scare forcing mass migrations into more stabilized regions.
This announcement results from a review by the Obama administration of the findings from a prior EPA scientific review ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2007, looking at whether or not greenhouse gases harm the environment. EPA scientists said they did, but the Bush administration suppressed those results, and never acted to regulate the greenhouse gases.
Obama ordered the review shortly after taking office, which was widely expected.
The finding will now be placed in the federal register, and the public has 60 days from that point to provide comments to the EPA. A final rule will be made after that.