December 7, 2009
Sound bites:
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/d0cf6618525a9efb85257359003fb69d/08d11a451131bca585257685005bf252!OpenDocument
EPA: Greenhouse Gases Threaten Public
Health and the Environment
Science overwhelmingly shows
greenhouse gas concentrations at unprecedented levels due to human
activity
WASHINGTON –
After a thorough examination of the scientific evidence and careful
consideration of public comments, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) announced today that greenhouse gases (GHGs) threaten
the public health and welfare of the American people. EPA
also finds that GHG emissions from on-road vehicles contribute to
that threat.
GHGs are the primary driver of climate change, which can lead to
hotter, longer heat waves that threaten the health of the sick, poor
or elderly; increases in ground-level ozone pollution linked to
asthma and other respiratory illnesses; as well as other threats to
the health and welfare of Americans.
“These long-overdue findings cement 2009’s place in history as the
year when the United States Government began addressing the
challenge of greenhouse-gas pollution and seizing the opportunity of
clean-energy reform,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.
“Business leaders, security experts, government officials, concerned
citizens and the United States Supreme Court have called for
enduring, pragmatic solutions to reduce the greenhouse gas pollution
that is causing climate change. This continues our work towards
clean energy reform that will cut GHGs and reduce the dependence on
foreign oil that threatens our national security and our economy.”
EPA’s final findings respond to the 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision
that GHGs fit within the Clean Air Act definition of air pollutants.
The findings do not in and of themselves impose any
emission reduction requirements but rather allow EPA to finalize the
GHG standards proposed earlier this year for new light-duty vehicles
as part of the joint rulemaking with the Department of
Transportation.
On-road vehicles contribute more than 23 percent of total U.S. GHG
emissions. EPA’s proposed GHG standards
for light-duty vehicles, a subset of on-road vehicles, would reduce
GHG emissions by nearly 950 million metric tons and conserve 1.8
billion barrels of oil over the lifetime of model year 2012-2016
vehicles.
EPA’s endangerment finding covers emissions of six key greenhouse
gases – carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons,
perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride – that have been the
subject of scrutiny and intense analysis for decades by scientists
in the United States
and around the world.
Scientific consensus shows that as a result of human
activities, GHG concentrations in the atmosphere are at record high
levels and data shows that the Earth has been warming
over the past 100 years, with the steepest increase in warming in
recent decades. The evidence of human-induced climate change goes
beyond observed increases in average surface temperatures; it
includes melting ice in the Arctic, melting glaciers around the world, increasing
ocean temperatures, rising sea levels, acidification of the oceans
due to excess carbon dioxide, changing precipitation patterns, and
changing patterns of ecosystems and wildlife.
President Obama and Administrator Jackson have publicly stated that
they support a legislative solution to the problem of climate change
and Congress’ efforts to pass comprehensive climate legislation.
However, climate change is threatening public health and welfare,
and it is critical that EPA fulfill its obligation to respond to the
2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that determined that greenhouse gases
fit within the Clean Air Act definition of air pollutants.
EPA issued the proposed findings in April 2009 and held a 60-day
public comment period. The agency received more than 380,000
comments, which were carefully reviewed and considered during the
development of the final findings.
Information on EPA’s findings:
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/endangerment.html
View the news conference live on EPA's
home page: http://www.epa.gov
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