Environmental Responsibility News: carbon emissions

Showing posts with label carbon emissions. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

EPA Greenhouse Gas Rule Upheld

Story first appeared in Reuters.

A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday upheld the first-ever U.S. proposed regulations governing heat-trapping greenhouse gases, handing a setback to major industries like coal-burning utilities and a victory to the Obama administration and environmental groups.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia unanimously ruled that the EPA's finding that carbon dioxide is a public danger and the decision to set limits for emissions from cars and light trucks were "neither arbitrary nor capricious."

The ruling, which addresses four separate lawsuits, upholds the underpinnings of the Obama administration's push to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, and is a rebuke to a major push by heavy industries including electric utilities, coal miners and states like Texas to block the EPA's path.

In the 82-page ruling, the three-judge panel also found that the EPA's interpretation of the Clean Air Act to regulate carbon dioxide regulations is "unambiguously correct."

The court also said it lacked jurisdiction to review the timing and scope of greenhouse gas rules that affect stationary sources like new coal-burning power plants and other large industrial sources.

The ruling clears the way for the EPA to proceed with first-ever rules limiting carbon dioxide emissions from newly built power plants, and to move forward with new vehicle emission standards this summer.

These rulings clear the way for EPA to keep moving forward under the Clean Air Act to limit carbon pollution from motor vehicles, new power plants, and other big industrial sources.

The court in February heard arguments brought by state and industry challenging the EPA's authority to set carbon dioxide limits.

Industry groups said the EPA's regulations will impose burdensome regulations that will spur job cuts.

The EPA's decision to move forward with these regulations is one of the most costly, complex and burdensome regulations facing manufacturers. These regulations will harm their ability to hire, invest and grow.

The EPA's rules could affect 6 million stationary sources including 200,000 manufacturing facilities and 37,000 farms.

The Supreme Court unleashed a fury of regulation and litigation when it ruled in Massachusetts vs. EPA in 2007 that greenhouse gases are an air pollutant that can be regulated under the Clean Air Act.

The EPA in 2009 issued an "endangerment finding" that greenhouse gases "reasonably may be anticipated to endanger public health." The agency followed with the "tailpipe rule" in May 2010 setting limits on greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks. The agency is also preparing to issue first-ever standards for carbon dioxide emissions from new power plants, which are likely to spur utilities to opt for cleaner natural-gas burning plants instead.

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Friday, June 15, 2012

Airplane Carbon Emissions May Cause Trade War

Story first appeared in Bloomberg Businessweek.

The global aviation industry group warned Tuesday that governments might be moving toward a trade war over Europe's carbon charges on airlines and appealed for a negotiated settlement.

China, India, Russia and 26 other governments that oppose the charges issued a joint declaration in February that cited possible retaliatory steps such as imposing charges on European airlines.

The last thing that anyone wants as an industry is a trade war. The problem is that the way things stand right now, there is a distinct possibillity of something like that happening.

The European Trading System requires airlines that fly to and from Europe to buy permits for all the carbon they emit en route. The charges took effect Jan. 1 but airlines will not be required to pay until next year.

China and India have prohibited their airlines from cooperating and Beijing has blocked purchases of European aircraft by its carriers in protest. European courts have rejected legal challenges by U.S. airlines, supported by governments including China and India.

Talks on a global system to regulate airline emissions have begun in the International Civil Aviation Organization, a U.N. body. The European Union has said it would be willing to reconsider its system if an agreement is reached.

Aviation accounts for 3 percent of total carbon emissions but is the fastest-growing source.

EU officials have defended the charges as in line with Europe's efforts to be a leader in curbing climate change. Environmentalists welcomed the program, one of the most far-reaching measures adopted by any government to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

Other governments object that Europe should not be imposing charges on what airlines do outside Europe.

The conflict adds to uncertainty for an aviation industry that is being squeezed by high fuel prices and a weak global economy.

The industry can't afford to be caught in the middle of a trade war over the EU's extraterritorial application of its emissions trading system.