Comments on: EPA Chief Says CO2 Output Not a Factor in Approving Coal Plants http://www.carbonoffsetsdaily.com/news-channels/top-stories/epa-chief-says-co2-output-not-a-factor-in-approving-coal-plants-3331.htm Daily carbon offset news, insight, community. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 22:55:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: jblethen http://www.carbonoffsetsdaily.com/news-channels/top-stories/epa-chief-says-co2-output-not-a-factor-in-approving-coal-plants-3331.htm/comment-page-1#comment-853 jblethen Thu, 25 Dec 2008 19:48:45 +0000 http://www.carbonoffsetsdaily.com/?p=3331#comment-853 EPA has yet to make an endangerment finding on CO2. The period for comments on it's Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) ended November 28. A decision (yes or no on endangerment) won't be made until next year. EPA can't regulate (limit) substances for which an endangerment finding has not first been made. This is the law and is long-standing EPA policy. Without such a policy EPA could regulate anything, dangerous or not. The November EPA panel decision violated this policy by putting the cart (regulation) before the horse (endangerment finding), hence Johnson's memo overruling the panel. Those who criticize Johnson and dispute this policy are saying that EPA should regulate something before it finds it to be dangerous. That makes no sense and EPA doesn't have the statutory authority to do that. EPA has yet to make an endangerment finding on CO2. The period for comments on it’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) ended November 28. A decision (yes or no on endangerment) won’t be made until next year. EPA can’t regulate (limit) substances for which an endangerment finding has not first been made. This is the law and is long-standing EPA policy. Without such a policy EPA could regulate anything, dangerous or not. The November EPA panel decision violated this policy by putting the cart (regulation) before the horse (endangerment finding), hence Johnson’s memo overruling the panel.

Those who criticize Johnson and dispute this policy are saying that EPA should regulate something before it finds it to be dangerous. That makes no sense and EPA doesn’t have the statutory authority to do that.

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