Napolitano Says DHS to Begin Battling Climate Change as Homeland Security Issue
Global Warming on Free Republic
Posted on 12/22/2010 1:20:53 PM PST by neverdem
The Obama administration is expected to roll out a major greenhouse gas policy for power plants and refineries as soon as Wednesday, signaling it won’t back off its push to fight climate change in the face of mounting opposition on Capitol Hill.
The Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to a schedule for setting greenhouse gas emission limits, known as “performance standards,” for the nation’s two biggest carbon-emitting industries, POLITICO has learned.
Under the schedule agreed to by EPA, states and environmental groups, the agency will issue a draft greenhouse gas performance standard for power plants by July 2011 and a final rule by May 2012. The agreement – which comes after states and environmentalists challenged the George W. Bush administration’s failure to set the standards – requires EPA to issue a draft limit for refineries by Dec. 2011 and a final rule by Nov. 2012.
The White House Office of Management and Budget has signed off on the schedule, according to a litigant in the legal fight.
The standards are part of a series of climate rules from the Obama administration that have faced fierce opposition from industry groups and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. And while the policies won’t go final for more than a year, the political ramifications will come immediately.
They will come as welcome news to environmentalists who want the administration to flex its regulatory muscle following the death of climate legislation this year, but EPA can expect its foes on the right to blast the move as another example of regulatory overreach.
GOP lawmakers slated to claim the gavels of powerful House committees next year have already vowed to launch probes into a host of EPA regulations – including the administration’s suite of climate change rules – arguing that the regulations will further damage the already ailing economy.
Starting Jan. 2, EPA will begin regulating large stationary sources of the heat-trapping emissions, but those requirements only apply to new and upgraded facilities and will be determined on a case-by-case basis, so it’s unclear how deeply they will slash emissions. The forthcoming standards would set industry-specific standards and could require some of the oldest, dirtiest facilities to clamp down on carbon dioxide.
The agreement doesn’t specify what type of requirements EPA will impose on the industries, but environmentalists say the rules have the potential to require substantial emission reductions in existing facilities while offering industry the type of regulatory certainty it’s been calling for.
EPA’s schedule could also likely impact a high-profile climate lawsuit pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. In the case American Electric Power v. Connecticut, power companies are challenging a lower court ruling that allowed states and environmental groups to move ahead with a public nuisance lawsuit seeking to force the utilities to slash their greenhouse gas emissions.
Obama administration attorneys asked the court in August to vacate the appeals court's judgment, arguing that in part that EPA was already moving forward with efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, which undercut the need for nuisance lawsuits. The attorneys said EPA was “evaluating” whether to include greenhouse gases in performance standards.
States and environmental groups involved in the case argued that EPA’s evaluation wasn’t good enough because the agency hasn’t formally taken action to limit emissions from existing sources. However, they said their claims for relief under nuisance lawsuits would be displaced if such rules were finalized.
It’s unclear how EPA’s announced schedule will affect the Supreme Court case, which is expected to be argued before the rules go final.
EPA spokeswoman Adora Andy said, "We have nothing to announce at this time. But as we have made clear any regulatory decisions will be guided by sound science and stakeholder input, and encourage deployment of clean technology, while cutting greenhouse gas pollution and providing certainty to key industries in this country."
Slash their funding to $20.12 a year. 2012 would convey the right message.
All policy makers at the EPA need to be hanged for treason and their bones given to Kenyan witchdoctors for prognisticating the hot weather this winter.
I saw it 25 years ago when I was a state regulator. I was a member of the Sierra Club along with several other environmental organizations. I worked to solve some real-world pollution problems and then told the groups that they had been listened to. Imagine first my surprise then my disappointment when they said it was only and first step and wanted this, then that, etc.
After a few years I resigned and now work in the private sector. However, they continue to fool others with their overblown horror stories about the oil and gas and other natural resource extraction industries. Now its global climate change (formerly known as global warming) and how man is responsible for all of it. Two weeks ago it was adoption of odious cap and tax regulations for NM. Last week it was a proposal to list a 3-inch threatened lizard to stop oil drilling. Next week, it will be the EPA's turn to do climate change/emissions rules for the rest of the nation.
Gotta stop 'em, somehow, someway.
“So this is what a dictatorship is like”
Spot on, kidd.
This is exactly what it looked like in 1930s fascist Germany. Unelected bureaucrats controlled businesses. A book was written about it titled “The Vampire Economy.”
To prevent America suffering the same fate, the EPA must be destroyed and its policy makers convicted of treason.
It’s High Noon at the OK Corral.
“Republican politicians will look the other way with their tails between their legs.”
The EPA is the vanguard of American fascism. If Republicans “look the other way,” it will be up to you and me to fix this problem.
These people are so Hungry for power, and money. That is all this has ever been about. They will not back down until....
You identified and presented the solution.
Congress can shut down the EPA whenever it wants to. And there isn’t a damn thing king obuma can do about it.
It's not just EPA. It seems that other government agencies are "jumping" as well, in the wrong direction. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), a government power agency, is making committments to nuclear, natuaral gas, and wind power. They are avoiding coal at this time, and have no future plans involving coal.
Unfortunately, the ratepayers are going to take one in the shorts because of this junk science.
The Lefties wipe the floor with conservatives with this tool, and there's no need to sit and do nothing while hoping for defunding, etc. I've gotten some fairly fundamental changes made to proposed regulations this way, myself.
I'd volunteer to do it myself, except that I am terrible at such tasks (even with electronic planners and such) and might also be spending quite a bit of time out of country/off the net in 2011.
Napolitano Says DHS to Begin Battling Climate Change as Homeland Security Issue
Global Warming on Free Republic
“YooHoo! We’re going into a mini-Ice Age (maybe even a major one)!!”
Well, we all know that the AGW scam has nothing to do with
climate or weather.
It is all just another Marxist tool for control,
and/or a scam for money and fame by the likes of
Albert Goreon.
Count me in!
(can I wear a little maple leaf beside the U.S. flag?) heh
Hell ya!
he is attacking on every angle at all levels , the destruction of the USA is emminent
>Pass A LAW
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