Obama Administration Moves to Curb Carbon Emissions

[kristopher]

It's about damned time.

Obama Administration Moves to Curb Carbon Emissions

By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 30, 2009 5:27 PM

The Obama administration said Wednesday it was moving ahead to curb carbon emissions by issuing a proposed rule that would require the nation's biggest greenhouse gas emitters to install advanced pollution control technology to operate any facility they plan to construct or significantly modify.

The action came as Senate Democrats introduced a climate bill setting nationwide limits on greenhouse gases. The two efforts could influence the outcome of United Nations-sponsored talks in Copenhagen this December, where more than 180 nations will attempt to forge a new international climate pact.

"This is our time," declared Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who held a rally on the East Front of the U.S. Capitol before a huge American flag and a group of veterans, clean energy entrepreneurs and state and local lawmakers. "Global warming is our challenge."

Both the Senate bill, authored by Boxer and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.), and the new EPA proposal target roughly 7,500 coal-fired plants, oil refineries and other facilities across the country that emit at least 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide each year and compose more than 70 percent of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions. While the administration has said it prefers for Congress to take the lead on climate change, it remains unclear if it can accomplish its goals legislatively.

Jason S. Grumet, president of the Bipartisan Policy Center, said the Boxer-Kerry bill represents ...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/30/AR2009093002854_pf.html