Watts Up With That?

The EPA view of CO2

As you may have already read about, the EPA is set to declare CO2 as a “public endangerment”. While the EPA declaration indicates “An endangerment finding under one provision of the Clean Air Act would not by itself automatically trigger regulation under the entire Act.” it will in fact open the door for future action.

* The Administrator is proposing to find that the current and projected concentrations of the mix of six key greenhouse gases—carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)—in the atmosphere threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations. This is referred to as the endangerment finding.
* The Administrator is further proposing to find that the combined emissions of CO2, CH4, N2O, and HFCs from new motor vehicles and motor vehicle engines contribute to the atmospheric concentrations of these key greenhouse gases and hence to the threat of climate change. This is referred to as the cause or contribute finding.

This proposed action, as well as any final action in the future, would not itself impose any requirements on industry or other entities. An endangerment finding under one provision of the Clean Air Act would not by itself automatically trigger regulation under the entire Act.

It is curious that the EPA left off the most potent greenhouse gas, water vapor, yet included sulfur hexaflouride, which is so many times heavier than the other gases in our atmosphere one wonders how it would rise to heights to have any effect on longwave radiation return. Methane is 23 times more potent as a GHG than CO2, but like CO2 is also part of our natural cycle on earth. Yet even some science that should be cognizant of such facts portray’s CO2 as the worst offender: Read the rest of this entry »