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EPA Backs Off Promise to Regulate CO2

Apparent flip follows White House warning on economic fallout

By Ambreen Ali, Newser User

Posted May 12, 2009 1:43 PM CDT

(Newser) – The Environmental Protection Agency is backing away from emissions regulation after a White House memo warned of its economic consequences. As administrator Lisa Jackson presented today an agency finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health, she told Congress this “does not mean regulation.” Previously, Jackson said such a discovery “will indeed trigger the beginning of regulation of CO2,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“We do understand that there are costs to the economy of addressing global warming,” Jackson told a Senate committee. But she dismissed parts of the White House document, which questions the report’s conclusions. The memo states that “the amount of acknowledged lack of understanding about the basic facts” in the report makes a difficult case for strong government action.

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EPA administrator Lisa Jackson gestures as she speaks to faculty and students at Princeton University last week. (AP Photo)

The EPA had found that carbon dioxide is endangering public health. (AP Photo)

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Serious risks and potential impacts to public health and welfare have been clearly identified. - Lisa Jackson, EPA administrator

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EPA Backs Off Promise to Regulate CO2