Whitehouse Statement on EPA's Authorities to Curb Global Warming

Press Release

Whitehouse Statement on EPA's Authorities to Curb Global Warming

We're here today for two troubling reasons. We're here because global warming, as our chair recognizes so clearly, is a serious and urgent problem that we have to address in our communities, our states, and our nation. But we're also here because the decision handed down in Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency reflects yet another instance of a disturbing legal trend: courts having to force EPA to do its job.

The Supreme Court's decision in Massachusetts v. EPA represents a major step forward to reduce automotive greenhouse gas emissions. As you know, Administrator Johnson, the ruling made clear that EPA does, in fact, have the authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate vehicle CO2 emissions, contrary to the Agency's insistence otherwise. I hope this will compel your Agency not only to recognize its authority but also to act on it.

Furthermore, in issuing its opinion, the Court removed any remaining excuse your Agency has for failing to approve long-overdue waiver requests allowing Rhode Island and ten other states to set more stringent vehicle emissions standards than currently required under federal law. EPA's years of legal stonewalling, by delaying the implementation of these standards, have allowed millions of tons of carbon dioxide pollution into our air and made it more difficult making to reverse the effects of climate change.

Make no mistake, climate change is already having a distressing effect on Rhode Island's treasured coastal environment and our communities. The annual mean winter temperature in Narragansett Bay has increased significantly over the past 20 years, causing changes to the ecosystem such as a reduction in abundance of winter flounder, a species that thrived in the past. Predicted sea level rise will endanger many parts of the Rhode Island coastline. Just last week, the Ocean State was struck by a nor'easter that devastated our shoreline. Coastal erosion is not a new phenomenon for us, but if global warming continues to worsen, the damage will only increase.

There's also a larger problem. EPA's track record in court during the Bush Administration is that weak public health protections have been overturned time and time again - or EPA has conceded illegal action. Consider these examples: three air toxics rulemakings in the past month alone; a national smog rulemaking especially important to downwind communities in Rhode Island and the rest of New England; and another significant air pollution loophole that the Court said was sensible only in a "Humpty Dumpty" world. The courts have even begun rebuking EPA for defying the law - reminding EPA of the proper way to appeal cases, for example, or what political considerations it must ignore when it carries out the Clean Air Act.

As Rhode Island's Attorney General, I joined other A.G.s from nine other North East states in suing the Bush Administration for the pollution emitted by power plants in the Midwest. Prevailing winds blow pollution from Midwest power plants onto us in Rhode Island. The ozone pollution from the Midwest is so bad that even if we stopped all our in-state emissions entirely, we would still fail federal ozone standards due to pollution traveling from other states. We needed to go to court to demand that the Bush Administration be fair to New England and to enforce its own laws against big business interests.

EPA's refusal to carry out the duties already conferred upon it by Congress raises real questions about this administration's commitment to protecting the people of this country and its environment against harmful pollution. I look forward to learning more today about the steps EPA is taking to reconsider its decision and allow states like Rhode Island to move forward with efforts to curb the harmful effect of greenhouse gas emissions.

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