CO2 Controls are coming one way or another

Regardless of whether you are in the camp that that believes that climate change is a result of human produced Carbon Dioxide or you have noted that data has been corrupted by some "scientists" here and in the UK to try to "prove" their position, the U.S. Government is moving forward.

On May 13, the EPA issued its final rule regulating Greenhouse Gases -initially limiting its reach to the largest stationary sources. Under the newly issued rule, the nation’s largest GHG emitters, such as power plants, refineries and cement production facilities, will be regulated, while smaller commercial facilities, farms and restaurants will not require Clean Air Act permits to address their GHG emissions (at least for now). For more information, click here for an article on the subject from Michael, Best and Friedrich.

Almost simultaneously, Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) formally introduced a new climate change bill, known as the American Power Act. The draft was originally scheduled to be introduced in April 2010; however, the rollout of the bill encountered setbacks after Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) walked away from the negotiation table just before the bill was set to be finalized. According to Sens. Kerry and Lieberman, the legislation is intended to reduce carbon emissions by 17 percent by 2020, and 80 percent by 2050. For more information, click here for another article from Michael, Best and Friedrich.

So whether through regulation or law, we are headed for some form of cap and trade with accompanying higher electric bills regardless of whether there is good science behind it.