GHG Daily
1/15/2016
The Environmental Protection Agency has at its disposal a power tool to combat climate change that it has yet to wield, according to an analysis by lawyers from the Institute for Policy Integrity, Columbia Law School, the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, and the University Of California, Los Angeles School of Law. According to the analysis, Section 115 of the Clean Air Act gives the EPA the authority to develop an economy-wide, market-based approach for reducing GHG emissions.
According to the analysis, Section 115 “authorizes EPA to require states to address emissions that contribute to air pollution endangering public health or welfare in other countries, if the other countries provide the U.S. with reciprocal protections. … EPA and the states could use the provision to establish an economy-wide, market-based approach for reducing GHG emissions. Such a program could provide one of the most effective and efficient means to address climate change pollution in the United States.”
