WRAP UP

Tamar Hallerman
GHG Monitor
2/22/13

IN CONGRESS

A group of nearly two dozen Democrats have pledged to make daily speeches on the House floor about the need to urgently address climate change. Headed by House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), the lawmakers announced the formation of the ‘Safe Climate Caucus’ during a Feb. 15 press conference. The group said it hopes to build political momentum around climate change in a chamber that has sidestepped the issue in recent years. But Democrats are left with little room to maneuver on the issue given that Republicans control the House floor.

AT EPA

A think tank affiliated with New York University’s law school filed a petition earlier this week urging the Environmental Protection Agency to utilize a rarely-used section of the Clean Air Act as authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The Institute for Policy Integrity (IPI) said Feb. 19 that EPA should use Section 115 of the landmark clean air law as it presumably moves forward on regulating emissions from existing sources. That provision allows EPA to require action from states on the issue if it determines that U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are endangering public health or welfare abroad. “Section 115 provides a mandatory, efficient and comprehensive approach to regulating greenhouse gas emissions. It is therefore the preferred mechanism under the Clean Air Act for responding to the dangers of climate change,” according to the petition. The group said it could pursue legal action against EPA if it ignores or denies the petition. EPA has to date relied on Section 111 of the Clean Air Act as its legal backing for regulating new sources—and is expected to do so for existing sources as well. IPI is not the first group to look at Section 115. A 2010 Resources for the Future paper said the lack of detail in the provision could lead to more legal scrutiny in court.