EPA TAKES ON EMISSIONS CONTROL

 In a bold and final move by the Obama Administration closing out the year, there was an unexpected shift in regulatory oversight regarding carbon emissions. As of January 1st of 2011, the EPA will have that oversight.   


Looking at the assumed reluctance of the 112th congress next year to address the well documented contribution of greenhouse gases by our energy producers, the President has bypassed the Congressional mayhem that would essentially kill the Cap&Trade Bill.

The President has the power to move these duties to the EPA, giving regulatory power to set limits on CO2 emissions from factories, power plants and refineries. Power plants and oil refineries will have to obtain federal permits that cap these emissions. Something those industry leaders have fought since it's inception. Well, anything that prevents pollution, really. It hurts the bottom line.

One of the themes throughout the Obama Presidency is the promotion of renewable, sustainable and green industry in hopes to create jobs. Much of the "Stimulus" of 2009 provided seed money for research and manufacturing in that developing market. Forcing the most notorious culprits in the dispersal of pollutants to actually curtail their emissions helps the cause. 


Considering the campaign financial support from energy companies to most Republicans and a few Democrats, the chance to get regulations passed through Congress would be a joke. Moving the authority to the EPA gives them the power to write the new rules. For the issues facing this country during the 112th, and the reluctance of the new majority in the House to act on our behalf, could this be the method that Obama gets some of the urgent issues addressed?

The EPA administrator Lisa Jackson, has to offer a list of modifications in January, allowing the implementation to occur later in the year to the best ability of the companies in question.    

David Doniger, of the NRDC was quoted in three sources: "By setting timetables for issuing standards to cut dangerous carbon pollution from power plants and oil refineries, EPA is doing precisely what is needed to protect our health and welfare and provide businesses certainty at a time when some would prefer to roll back the clock." I would have to agree with him.