Sept. 17

Three Democratic senators from the Northeast want the U.S. EPA to study the role soot emissions play in global warming and to identify technologies and strategies to reduce those emissions.

Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Tom Carper, D-Del., and John Kerry, D-Mass., introduced legislation Sept. 16 that would require the EPA take action. The senators cited recent scientific studies that found soot plays a more significant role in global warming than originally thought.

One study, published this year in Nature Geoscience, concluded the atmospheric warming impact of soot, also known as "black carbon," could be three to four times greater than estimated in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report released last year.

"Recent scientific evidence indicates that soot emissions may have a powerful warming effect, particularly in the near term," Sen. Clinton said. "The good news is that we have technology to reduce these emissions, such as retrofitting old school buses and trucks with pollution control equipment."

The bill would require the EPA to report back to Congress with its findings so Congress can adopt legislative strategy to address the issue.

Contact Waste News senior reporter Bruce Geiselman at (330) 865-6172 or bgeiselman@crain.com

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