Daren Bakst and Roy Cordato have been warning you about federal regulators’ efforts to clamp down on carbon dioxide emissions. The latest TIME features an interview in which Environmental Protection Agency chief Lisa Jackson sheds more light on the topic.
A key point of contention is EPA regulations that could be coming on greenhouse gases. What is the EPA looking to do on this issue?
We’re talking about updating standards under the Clean Air Act to address pollution. Although I joined the President in calling for legislation, that doesn’t mean we can’t get started using the Clean Air Act to take a series of moderate steps that would add up to real reduction.
Why should the EPA be regulating carbon?
Because it’s the law. The Clean Air Act and Supreme Court cases have said the EPA must determine whether greenhouse gases endanger public health. We have determined, based on multiple lines of scientific evidence, that they do.
What would it mean if legislation to block those regulations were passed?
Congress would essentially be passing a law that says, We, as a bunch of lawmakers, have decided what the science is on this issue. I don’t think that history will forget the first time that politicians made a law to overrule scientists.
