As of Sunday, Jan. 2, 2011, the Obama administration is officially regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. The White House is under pressure to fulfill its pledge to tackle climate change while avoiding the appearance that it's hindering job growth. What that means immediately is that new and upgraded industrial facilities like power plants and refineries will be forced to install technologies to curb their greenhouse gas emissions.
At first, the greenhouse gas rules will only apply to new and modified plants that would already trigger control requirements based on their emissions of other pollutants regulated by EPA, like soot or smog. Starting in July, large plants will fall under EPA's rules based only on their greenhouse gas output. EPA says phasing in those rules will allow states and other permitting authorities to get used to the process.
The agency is also planning to take over greenhouse gas permitting indefinitely in Texas, where state officials have staunchly refused to get in line with the Obama administration's climate policy. While some states say they are expecting no trouble, industry officials have warned that long delays could occur as authorities work to issue greenhouse gas permits for the first time and as opponents of new projects challenge the emission control requirements in court.
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