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In Most
recently, DEQ decided to punt on these issues despite a remand by the USEPA
Environmental Appeals Board on an appeal of the Northern Michigan University
Ripley Heating Plant proposed air permit to install for a coal/wood fired
cogeneration plant. On February 18th the EAB told DEQ among other
deficiencies that needed to be addressed that they must address the question of
Best Available Control Technologies for CO2 and N2O (a greenhouse gas 298 times
more potent than CO2). It is
amazing what happens when suddenly science again becomes the basis for
decisionmaking. ---------------------------------------------- March
10, 2009 Contact: Obama EPA
Sprints on Climate After Years of Bush Foot-Dragging Coming
on the same day that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the
first national reporting standards for global warming emissions, leaked
information shows that the Agency plans to issue an important,
long-awaited finding on global warming’s impact on public health and
welfare on April 16, with a 60-day public comment period and two public
hearings to follow before the document is finalized. The
April 2, 2007 Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. EPA found that
carbon dioxide (CO2) was a pollutant under the Clean Air Act, ordered EPA to
determine whether CO2 endangered public health or welfare under the Act’s
capacious definition, and, if so, to promulgate the appropriate
regulations. The Bush administration unlawfully chose to ignore the
decision for nearly two years, continuing its long campaign of denial,
obfuscation, and foot-dragging on global warming and other key
environmental issues. The
so-called endangerment finding is one of the first steps the Agency must take
before promulgating regulations to limit global warming pollution from cars,
factories, power plants, and other sources. It also paves the way for the
Agency to grant a waiver to In
response Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope, issued the following
statement. "After
years of delay by the previous administration, the Obama administration’s
quick action to study and control global warming pollution is a breath of fresh
air. This is yet more proof that President Obama has ended the Bush administration’s
war on science once and for all. "This
decision also makes good on the promises of President Obama and EPA
Administrator Jackson to discard politics and ideology in favor of sound policy
guided by the rule of law and EPA’s duty to protect the public’s
health and welfare. We also commend EPA for genuinely considering the
public’s opinion on this and other pressing matters, something that was
all but abandoned in favor of secret backroom deals during the previous eight
years. "The
public should not be fooled by the doomsday rhetoric spouted by proponents of
the status quo. It’s clear that the administration understands the
urgency to act on global warming and the sweet spot of solutions that can not
only help our climate, but can also help our economy recover. Consistent with
President Obama’s economic recovery plan, today’s revelations take ### ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anne Woiwode, State Director Sierra Club ph: 517-484-2372 web: www.michigan.sierraclub.org
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