In a move that could affect more than 300,000 cars in Raleigh and 8.5 million in the state, the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to begin regulating carbon dioxide emissions in accordance with President Barack Obama’s plan to reduce these emissions 80 percent by 2050, Daniel Graham, a lecturer in interdisciplinary studies, said.
The EPA’s decision on whether to regulate carbon dioxide emissions has been stalled since 2007, when a battle between George W. Bush and the Supreme Court began.
The Supreme Court made the first move in April of that year, when it lumped carbon dioxide in with other pollutants like ozone and granted the EPA the right to regulate the heat-trapping gas in automobile emissions.
Under the Clean Air Act of 1990, the EPA has the right to decide whether to regulate pollutants. But the Bush administration had been hesitant to qualify carbon dioxide as a pollutant that endangers public health, instead calling it an emission, according to Graham, who instructs an environmental policy class.
After the April ruling, the administration still disagreed.
“When Bush was running for office in 2000, he made a campaign promise to regulate carbon dioxide, and he did not live up to that promise. The Bush administration had argued that it was an emission, not a pollutant, which is why it dragged its feet,” Graham said. “The administration dragged its feet even after the Supreme Court ruled the EPA was responsible for regulating carbon dioxide.”
But by the time the administration appealed the Supreme Court’s ruling — and by the time the Supreme Court maintained its decision — Bush was a lame duck.
“He just let the clock run out,” Graham said.
With President Barack Obama’s administration already past its first 30 days in the White House, Graham said he expects the EPA and its new administrator Lisa Jackson to start regulating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.
Obama plans to establish a cap-and-trade policy that will cut carbon dioxide emissions 80 percent by 2050, according to the White House Web site.
Cap-and-trade policies were in effect during the Bush administration as well. Manufacturers were allowed to emit a certain amount of pollutants, like sulfur dioxide, but “the industries that don’t comply have to buy extra pollution permits,” Graham said.
Since 55 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in 2000 came from fuel and cement, automobile manufacturers and state departments of transportation could be some of the first places to feel regulation’s affects.
Marge Howell, N.C. Department of Motor Vehicle spokesperson, said a statewide report issued Jan. 13 showed 8,549,078 vehicles — a number that includes motorcycles, mobile homes, RVs, trucks, buses and trailers — issued to North Carolinians. She said the amount of in-state registered vehicles has remained at about 8.5 million “for some time now.”
Carbon dioxide regulation could affect the 313,671 vehicles that are registered in the city of Raleigh.
Behshad Norowzi, a transportation engineer for the N.C. DOT, said although he is unaware of any EPA-implemented regulations to cut carbon dioxide emissions, there is a possibility the department could see changes in carbon dioxide regulation in the next two years.
“Right now, the EPA regulates ozone, carbon monoxide, particulate matter and toxics. There is really no federal regulation for greenhouse gases. California regulates its emissions, but that’s on a state basis,” he said. “If, at some point, the EPA does regulate greenhouse gases, it would impact all the sources of carbon dioxide emissions.”
So if the EPA does as Graham and others who follow the administration’s politics expect, North Carolinians could see their new cars undergo stiff regulation regarding the amount of carbon dioxide they are allowed to emit.
“The Obama administration is on firm legal ground to have the EPA regulate emissions,” Graham said.
