EPA Rejects Claims of Climate Change Skeptics

On July 29, EPA denied 10 petitions challenging its 2009 determination that climate change is real, is occurring due to emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities, and threatens human health and the environment.

The petitions to reconsider EPA’s Endangerment Finding claim that climate science cannot be trusted, and assert a conspiracy that invalidates the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the U.S. Global Change Research Program. After months of serious consideration of the petitions and of the state of climate change science, EPA finds no evidence to support these claims. In contrast, EPA’s review shows that climate science is credible, compelling, and growing stronger.

“The endangerment finding is based on years of science from the U.S. and around the world. These petitions—based as they are on selectively edited, out-of-context data and a manufactured controversy—provide no evidence to undermine our determination. Excess greenhouse gases are a threat to our health and welfare,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “Defenders of the status quo will try to slow our efforts to get America running on clean energy. A better solution would be to join the vast majority of the American people who want to see more green jobs, more clean energy innovation and an end to the oil addiction that pollutes our planet and jeopardizes our national security.”

Claim: Petitioners say that emails disclosed from the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit provide evidence of a conspiracy to manipulate global temperature data.

Response: EPA reviewed every email and found this was simply a candid discussion of scientists working through issues that arise in compiling and presenting large complex data sets. Four other independent reviews came to similar conclusions.

Claim: Petitioners say that errors in the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report call the entire body of work into question.

Response: Of the alleged errors, EPA confirmed only two in a 3,000 page report. The first pertains to the rate of Himalayan glacier melt and second to the percentage of the Netherlands below sea level. IPCC issued correction statements for both of these errors. The errors have no bearing on Administrator Jackson’s decision. None of the errors undermine the basic facts that the climate is changing in ways that threaten our health and welfare.

Claim: Petitioners say that because certain studies were not included in the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, the IPCC itself is biased and cannot be trusted as a source of reliable information.

Response: These claims are incorrect. In fact, the studies in question were included in the IPCC report, which provided a comprehensive and balanced discussion of climate science.

Claim: Petitioners say that new scientific studies refute evidence supporting the Endangerment Finding.

Response: Petitioners misinterpreted the results of these studies. Contrary to their claims, many of the papers they submit as evidence are consistent with EPA’s Finding. Other studies submitted by the petitioners were based on unsound methodologies. Detailed discussion of these issues may be found in volume one of the response to petition documents, on EPA’s website.

According to EPA, climate change is already happening, and human activity is a contributor. The global warming trend over the past 100 years is confirmed by three separate records of surface temperature, all of which are confirmed by satellite data. Beyond this, evidence of climate change is seen in melting ice in the Arctic, melting glaciers around the world, increasing ocean temperatures, rising sea levels, shifting precipitation patterns, and changing ecosystems and wildlife habitats.

“America’s Climate Choices,” a report from the National Academy of Sciences and the most recent assessment of the full body of scientific literature on climate change, along with the recently released “State of the Climate“ report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration both fully support the conclusion that climate change is real and poses significant risk to human and natural systems. The consistency among these and previously issued assessments only serves to strengthen EPA’s conclusion.

Petitions

* Arthur Randol – Petition for Reconsideration (PDF) (12 pp, 169K)
* Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America – Petition for Reconsideration and for Stay Pending Reconsideration (PDF) (38 pp, 120K)
* Coalition for Responsible Regulation et al. – Petition for Reconsideration (PDF) (40 pp, 571K)
* Commonwealth of Virginia – Petition for Reconsideration (PDF) (5 pp, 273K)
* Competitive Enterprise Institute et al. – Petition for Reconsideration (PDF) (13 pp, 3.82MB)
o Supplement to Petition (PDF) (6 pp, 1.62MB)
* Ohio Coal Association – Petition for Reconsideration (PDF) (11 pp, 97K)
o Supplemental Petition (PDF) (25 pp, 219K)
* Pacific Legal Foundation – Petition for Reconsideration (PDF) (58 pp, 461K)
* Peabody Energy Company – Petition for Reconsideration (PDF) (238 pp, 1.04MB)
* Southeastern Legal Foundation et al. – Petition for Reconsideration (PDF) (28 pp, 236K)
o First Amendment to Petition for Reconsideration (PDF) (3 pp, 43K)
o Second Amendment to Petition for Reconsideration (PDF) (4 pp, 44K)
o Third Amendment to Petition for Reconsideration (PDF) (40 pp, 729K)
o Fourth Amendment to Petition for Reconsideration (PDF) (2 pp, 43K)
o Fifth Amendment to Petition for Reconsideration (PDF) (23 pp, 343K)
* State of Texas – Petition for Reconsideration (PDF) (38 pp, 1.28MB)

EPA: An unelected, flunky bureaucracy populated with radical, no-growth, Marxist, environmental nut-jobs wielding rogue powers based in junk science. A cancer on the private sector. Ultimately, the EPA is not about the environment. It is about legislating from the Executive Branch in Soviet Agency style. It has the convenient unconstitutional feature of allowing the Obama Administration to pursue an extreme global warming agenda, to make energy prices necessarily sky-rocket, and gain sweeping regulatory control over the US economy without a politically difficult vote in congress.

Action against EPA abuse of power by private enterprise:

Action against EPA abuse of power by state/federal government:

Action in support of EPA abuse of power:

NYC et al: CLIMATE: States seek to intervene in challenge to EPA's endangerment finding

☆☆ States Officially Rejecting Anthropogenic Global Warming

☆ Utah
☆ Arizona

Just another government functionary doing what they are told to do by the Obama administration.

There is no such thing as freedom in government ,every agency is ruled by the governing powers. EPA, IRS, CIA ,FBI,all are just a part of the administration. When the administration is crooked so are these agencies.

So far only the people from ICE appear to have arisen to beat back the adminiostration, but they too will be beaten back.

Doesn’t matter how many lies the EPA spouts. Rejecting these claims isn’t the end of the process. Under the Data Quality Act, the EPA must prove the science used to write these rules is sound and unbiased. Everyone but the eco-fascists knows that the EPA science is non-existent or based on junk science.

Round two coming up.

In my Opinion the EPA is responsible for the gulf spill and God knows what else catastrophe's across the US and the world

Forrest fires

Supposed Global warming data being collected from the tops of air conditioning units and paved blacktop parking lots

Protecting fish that aren't indigenous to the areas they are being protected at

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.