EPA Declares Asbestos 'Emergency' in Mont. Town

Agency can regulate greenhouse gases under Clean Air Act

(NEWSER) - It's official: the Obama administration today declared greenhouse gases a threat to public health, which will allow the agency to use the Clean Air Act to regulate emissions without congressional approval, the Washington Post reports. "There are no more excuses for delay," said EPA administrator Lisa Jackson, who will appear at the climate conference in Copenhagen this week. "This administration will not ignore science and the law any longer." More»

Big industrial plants to be targeted, not 'cows and Dunkin' Donuts'

(NEWSER) - The Obama administration has given the EPA the green light to start moving for the first time toward limiting greenhouse-gas emissions from major industrial sources. The proposed new rules would affect only large facilities that emit 25,000 tons or more of carbon dioxide annually, instead of applying to "every cow and Dunkin’ Donuts," as critics of EPA involvement in emissions control charge. More»

(NEWSER) - The Environmental Protection Agency today granted California the right to set its own strict emissions standards, an about-face from Bush-era policies, Reuters reports. In a sly rebuke to the previous administration, the EPA said the move rested on a “traditional legal interpretation of the Clean Air Act.” California first requested permission to go beyond federal standards in 2005; the waiver was denied in 2008. More»

Apparent flip follows White House warning on economic fallout

(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. More»

(NEWSER) - The EPA's decision today to declare carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases dangerous pollutants could have enormous consequences for US businesses, writes Andy Stone in Forbes. The big winner: green technology. The ruling could eventually give the EPA unprecedented regulatory control over everything from power plants to oil refineries to automobiles. The US Chamber of Commerce says the decision could wreak havoc on the economy. More»