Newsflash: EPA Proposes Clean Air Act Climate Regulation

From the Washington Post:

The Environmental Protection Agency today plans to propose regulating greenhouse gas emissions on the grounds that these pollutants pose a danger to the public’s health and welfare, according to several sources who asked not to be identified.

We’ll post more details and analysis as they become available.

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The proposal is now official.  Consistent with a previous discussion on this blog about the effect of switching the default point, this is already changing industry’s attitude toward new climate legislation. The New York Times reports;

Many opponents of regulating carbon dioxide will now turn their attention to Congress, hoping to achieve a more modest cap on greenhouse gases through the legislative process than one that could be imposed by the federal government.

Addendum: details and a link to the text of the proposed finding can be found here.

The NY Times has an interesting appraisal of the response:

Environmental advocates applauded the decision, which they had sought for years. Auto companies, utilities and others tied to polluting emissions had long dreaded this day but generally reacted with caution because the regulatory process had just begun and they hoped to address their concerns in the legislation before Congress. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers said its members were developing cars and trucks to meet the expected tougher emissions standards.

In short, everyone knew this was coming.  Has the car industry really been preparing itself for this challenge, as the final sentence in the quote suggests?  Time will tell.

Clean Air Act, EPA, greenhouse gases, Massachusetts v. EPA