Issued today 4/28/2010
EPA Press Office
202-564-4355
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 28, 2010
Statement of Lisa P. Jackson Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Legislative Hearing on Clean Energy Policies That Reduce Our Dependence on Oil
House Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment
WASHINGTON – Chairmen Markey and Waxman, Ranking Members Upton and Barton, Chairman Emeritus Dingell, and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to testify about the Environmental Protection Agency’s work to reduce America’s oil dependence and greenhouse gas emissions. That work stems from two seminal events.
First, in April 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded in Massachusetts v. EPA that the Clean Air Act’s definition of air pollution includes greenhouse gases. The Court rejected then-Administrator Johnson’s refusal to determine whether that pollution from motor vehicles endangers public health or welfare.
In response to the Supreme Court’s decision, and based on the best available science and EPA’s review of thousands of public comments, I found in December 2009 that motor-vehicle greenhouse gas emissions do endanger Americans’ health and welfare.
I am not alone in reaching that conclusion. Scientists at the 13 federal agencies that make up the U.S. Global Change Research Program have reported that unchecked greenhouse gas emissions pose significant risks to the wellbeing of the American public. The National Academy of Sciences has stated that the climate is changing, that the changes are mainly caused by human interference with the atmosphere, and that those changes will transform the environmental conditions on Earth unless counter-measures are taken.
The second pivotal event was the agreement President Obama announced in May 2009 between EPA, the Department of Transportation, the nation’s automakers, America’s autoworkers, and the State of California to seek harmonized, nationwide limits on the fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of new cars and light trucks.
My endangerment finding in December satisfied the prerequisite in the Clean Air Act for establishing a greenhouse gas emissions standard for cars and light trucks of Model Years 2012 through 2016. So I was able to issue that final standard earlier this month, on the same day that Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood signed a final fuel efficiency standard for the same vehicles.
Using existing technologies, manufacturers can configure new cars and light trucks to satisfy both standards at the same time. And vehicles complying with the federal standards will automatically comply with the greenhouse gas emissions standard established by California and adopted by 13 other states. This harmonized and nationally uniform program achieves the goal the President announced last May.
Moreover, the EPA and DOT standards will reduce the lifetime oil use of the covered vehicles by more than 1.8 billion barrels. That will do away with more than a billion barrels of imported oil, assuming the current ratio of domestic production to imports does not improve. The standards also will eliminate more than 960 million metric tons of greenhouse gas pollution.
But if Congress now nullified EPA’s finding that greenhouse gas pollution endangers the American public, that action would remove the legal basis for a federal greenhouse gas emissions standard for motor vehicles. Eliminating the EPA standard would forfeit one quarter of the combined EPA-DOT program’s fuel savings and one third of its greenhouse gas emissions cuts. California and the other states that have adopted California’s greenhouse gas emissions standard would almost certainly respond by enforcing that standard within their jurisdictions, leaving the automobile industry without the nationwide uniformity that it has described as vital to its business.
I would like to mention one more action that EPA has taken to reduce America’s oil dependence and greenhouse gas emissions. In February, I signed a final renewable fuels standard. It substantially increases the volume of renewable products – including cellulosic bio-fuel – that refiners must blend into transportation fuel. EPA will implement the standard fully by the end of 2022. In that year alone, the standard will decrease America’s oil imports by 41 and a half billion dollars. And U.S. greenhouse gas emissions that year will be 138 million metric tons lower thanks to the standard.
EPA’s recent work on vehicles and fuels shows that enhancing America’s energy security and reducing America’s greenhouse gas pollution are two sides of the same coin.
R133
==============================
h/t to WUWT reader Michael C. Roberts
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rbateman says:
April 28, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Lisa Jackson is not an elected official. She should not be legislating from an appointed position.
The average person doesn’t even know what that means. And they probably would get a bored look on their face if you tried to explain it.
BUT!! They know everything about every contestant on Survivor, Americas Got Talent, and Dancing with the Stars. Many of them can achieve high levels in video games. They spend hours at the movies, texting on their phone, and watching porn.
As long as America lives like this America will have pathetic leaders.
But I do believe a new day is coming!! It might get a bit uglier though before it gets better.
David Alan Evans says:
April 28, 2010 at 3:12 pm
…Lots of poor people are gonna die. Then again, isn’t that the idea?
Maybe Paul Ehrlich’s patience has paid off!
How do I say this diplomatically……like this
she’s a hick
emphasis added :
<blockquote cite ="The National Academy of Sciences has stated that the climate is changing, that the changes are mainly caused by human interference with the atmosphere, and that those changes will transform the environmental conditions on Earth unless counter-measures are taken.”>
Stated. Not proven, demonstrated, measured, hypothesised or theorised.
Alas poor Science, I knew him well.
I was listening to a car dealer today who loves the new Nissan Leaf all elctric car. The drawback? One Leaf is expected to increase your electric bill by 19%, so how we going to generate all that extra electricity? Probably by more magical means that have not been developed yet since CO2 generating coal, nuclear and even hydro is bad according to environmentalists. Heck, they are even protesting wave generation out here in the Pacific NW.
“Stop right there, or the energy independence baby gets a .45 caliber hole in the noggin!”
Oy.
I think it’s time to recall the wisdom of one of our country’s most curmudgeonly sages.
“Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.”
and
“Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats”
H.L. Mencken
Dave Wendt:
Here’s another:
She’s a ‘watermelon’.
Green on the outside, red on the inside!
@ur momisugly Darrin says:
April 28, 2010 at 7:03 pm
“I was listening to a car dealer today who loves the new Nissan Leaf all elctric car. The drawback? One Leaf is expected to increase your electric bill by 19%, so how we going to generate all that extra electricity? Probably by more magical means that have not been developed yet since CO2 generating coal, nuclear and even hydro is bad according to environmentalists. Heck, they are even protesting wave generation out here in the Pacific NW.”
Dude!!!! You don’t understand!!! You see, by creating plug-in electric vehicles, we can give back to the grid!!! See, we generate electricity by running our vehicles and charging our batteries. Then, at night, we plug in and give back the electricity!!!! Then, it is there all night for us to recharge our batteries and do it all over again!!!! And, as a bonus, the electric companies will pay us for the electricity!!!! See, everybody wins!!!!
The preferred method of making slaves is to convince the target population that it is in their best interest to be dependent on the slave master. This is done by providing them with security, food, housing, etc., so that they eventually lose the ability to provide such things for themselves. Whips, chains, etc. are not necessary. The most effective slave master smiles at his slaves and becomes a father figure whom they worship. They have become slaves without even realizing it. They only feel the lash, when they “must be punished” for their own good. The father feels badly about it, but it must be done. And the slave knows he deserved it for disappointing the father, and welcomes the punishment to help him correct his ways.
This is how slaves are made.
I’ll leave it to you to figure out who are the slave masters and who are the slaves in this on going political tragic-comedy.
Welcome America, to the European Nanny State of Big Government….. From here on in, you will never need to think for yourselves…. Indeed, it may even be illegal, as you may hurt yourself or others;-)
Remember, that to criticise Obama or his administration is Sedition. (but to criticize Bush was fine)
It’s a strange new world we now find ourselves in….. Good thing the Midterm elections are close for you guys, hey?
Anyone up for writing to their rep to demand that this ass of a woman back down?
Ms Jackson, please makeup your mind – is your draconian CO2 law saving the world or saving pennies?
Trashing our way of life with forced decarbonization might have been justifiable if it was saving our children’s lives from climate catastrophe, but not for mundate issues of energy security, peak oil, sustainability or society’s guilt about over-consumption.
Watch the warmists such as Ms. Jackson seamlessly switching over from the ailing CAGW to these comparatively trivial reasons, hoping no one will notice that we have kept a sledgehammer solution for what is now a walnut problem.
Ian H says:
April 28, 2010 at 3:40 pm:
The above and others keep saying “we are running out of fossil fuels”. For one thing, petroleum is not “fossil fuel” and another it is not running out. It is continuously made in the earth from water, carbonate, and catalysts such as iron and cobalt minerals. The Russians established this years ago, but too many kids are still reading high school text books that have 30 year old information.
They are just finding out about petroleum based volcanoes in the ocean, and oil leaks into the oceans without drilling. Where do you think the ethane and methane and higher hydrocarbon lakes on Titan, the moon of Saturn came from? Dinosaurs, also?
We need a complete reeducation of the last two (at least) generations.
Summary:
1) Burning oil is a good thing, and there is plenty of coal and gas to boot
2) Windmills, solar panels, etc. are inefficient, costly to make, do not last long without costly maintenance, are bad for the environment and need huge tax subsidies to be viable.
3) CO2 is a very good thing
4) Earth gets hot and cold apart from man
5) Greenies need more education
6) Sol is a variable G major star; its atmosphere comprises 0.3% carbon. Earth’s atmosphere comprises 0.001% carbon. It warms the earth with visible and invisible radiation that varies in a cyclical fashion.
7) No one can predict earth’s climate
To the guy who had questions about cellulosic ethanol, it has reached pilot-scale at a number of facilites nationwide (sorry, can’t provide link). I believe a few commercial-scale facilities are currently on the drawing boards. My guess is that by 2015, the techonology would be commercialized.
By the way, how many of you know that 800,000 barrels per day of ethanol was produced in the US in Dec 2009? I expect it to exceed one million barrels per day by end of 2010. At 50 mpg, do you know that is enough fuel to power 50 million Prius cars annually at 12,000 miles driven per year? Which brings up another point, why aren’t the Prius sold as flex-fuel capable?
The heart of the issue is:
MASSACHUSETTS et al. v. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY et al.
Is the available information sufficient?
See Climate Change Reconsidered, for evidence against sufficiency.
now that everyone has had a chance to react, what did she actually say?
“The second pivotal event was the agreement President Obama announced in May 2009 between EPA, the Department of Transportation, the nation’s automakers, America’s autoworkers, and the State of California to seek harmonized, nationwide limits on the fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of new cars and light trucks.”
“My endangerment finding in December satisfied the prerequisite in the Clean Air Act for establishing a greenhouse gas emissions standard for cars and light trucks of Model Years 2012 through 2016. So I was able to issue that final standard earlier this month, on the same day that Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood signed a final fuel efficiency standard for the same vehicles.”
All she is saying is that the EPA has “harmonized” current standards. The other “bits” about 2022 aren’t of much concern as no one in their right mind will use such antiquated solutions at that point.
Best,
John
@Pamela Gray says:
April 28, 2010 at 3:37 pm
Hope springs eternal……….. and I know the choice wasn’t really very good, but, ……YOU’RE A BRIGHT PERSON!!!!!!! I’ve more, but I’m breaking it up. The rest isn’t directed at you in particularly, but both of us and many more. It may or may not be posted.
Given Ms. Lisa P. Jackson’s dissertation to the senate, it is apparent; There is a reality of which no one likes to speak. I will. Nature gives us inequities. Some have talents that others don’t. It is the responsibility of people with certain abilities and talents to show and express the proper way (pertinent to their talents) for others with less talent and abilities to know particular things. Regardless of how people view other people, it is still the onus of the people bestowed with the various talents and abilities to (dare I say?) preach the proper way. Hoping a Chicago thug would Change things for the better, was, well, naive, to be charitable. Proof positive that smart people can to dumb things. probably often.
The one thing you can be sure of in every country in the world, when the economy becomes wealthy enough to allow Civil Servants to not worry about famine and starvation those same Civil Servants will seek a purpose of sufficient high-minded import that they can delude themselves that they still deliver us from death.
They are, of course, quite mad.
Lisa says
“In February, I signed a final renewable fuels standard. It substantially increases the volume of renewable products – including cellulosic bio-fuel – that refiners must blend into transportation fuel”
She is not honest person because she knows full well that cellulosic bio fuel is virtually non existant and that the plants that promised to be in production by now are failing to meet expectations for capacity and product due to technological limitations.
Also it is her very agency that reported that ethanol from cellulosic feed stock takes over 50 years to offer any benefits for reduction of CO2.
Also how can she defend the ethanol from corn folly
If this goes to court, she will look like a fool.
Keep in mind that she virtually killed the economy of New Jersey when she was the DEP administrator with her environmental policies that drove business to neighboring states. This was even before the recession. The new governor is reversing her draconian policies in an attempt to save the state from bankruptcy.
ng l
One has to admire Lisa’s Cnut-like confidence in proclamation.
Wasn’t there a time when the US, in an age of reason, threw off the yoke of crazed monarchist oppression? (That was a time of unfair taxes too).
@Don Shaw
“she knows full well that cellulosic bio fuel is virtually non existant and that the plants that promised to be in production by now are failing to meet expectations for capacity and product due to technological limitations.”
IDK, she really could be an idiot and is just parroting what she believes is possible. I can show where people who see one particular instance believe that particular instance could and should happen else where. Regardless of circumstance. Be it TV or movie, it should happen in “RL”.
The answer is, there is no limitation on what could happen, except the for the limitation on man’s contrivance. The question is, should we, and at what cost?
On Biofuels
As a major producer of palm oil, the Malaysian government is encouraging the production of biofuel feedstock and the building of biodiesel plants that use palm oil. Domestically, Malaysia is preparing to change from diesel to bio-fuels by 2008, including drafting legislation that will make the switch mandatory. From 2007, all diesel sold in Malaysia must contain 5% palm oil. Malaysia is emerging as one of the leading biofuel producers, with 91 plants approved and a handful now in operation, all based on palm oil.
Meanwhile …
Studies in Sabah show that orang-utan population have declined by 50 to 90% over the past few decades. This severe decline is due to several causes including hunting and pet trade, but the foremost reason is forest losses when the forest is cut down and converted to agriculture. In Borneo and Sumatra where wild orang-utans live, forest is primarily converted to palm oil and industrial tree plantations. Forest conversion results in an extreme loss of biodiversity and the destruction of species like the orang-utans.
Meanwhile …
The European Commission and some EU member states hope to redefine palm oil plantations as “forests,” according to a leaked document from the EU executive. Rules governing the use of biofuels were supposed to be designed to sort out the sustainable versions of the technology from their dirtier cousins following a massive backlash against it in 2008. At the time, an avalanche of reports revealed that many forms of the fuel source both increase greenhouse gas emissions and put pressure on food prices.
The production of palm oil was one of the most egregious examples of the problem.
In the wake of the biofuels boom, there has been a rush to chop down rainforests to make way for palm oil plantations. The UN says that the growth in such plantations is now the main cause of rainforest destruction in Malaysia and Indonesia. Worse still are the land grabs and human rights abuses resulting from the lucrative business. In Indonesia, as EUobserver reported two years ago, when native communities complain about the loss of their lands, private security firms and police that collude with the oil companies crack down violently on protesters.
But in a manoeuvre that has shocked environmental campaigners, a draft commission communication offering guidance to EU member states on the use of biofuels has classified palm oil plantations – the source of one of the most destructive forms of biofuels – as “forests.” Essentially, the document argues that because palm oil plantations are tall enough and shady enough, they count as forests.
So it seems that in the name of preserving Gaia’s climate, the world is trading virgin forest for palm oil plantations and orang-utans for polar bears while Uncle Al and his cronies get rich keeping underground resources underground.