Environmental Protection Agency To Use Water To Regulate Carbon

Posted on 17. Apr, 2009 by Ross in Government Policy, North America

Not content with taking action against carbon dioxide emissions by declaring it a pollutant, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is now considering taking a more leftfield approach by also declaring it a water pollutant, according to E&E Publishing’s Greenwire.

Back in March, the EPA decided to act on the US’s continuing growth in carbon dioxide emissions by signalling that they would be declaring the greenhouse gas a pollutant (subject to presidential approval), a decision set to have massive ramifications for subsequent legislation on climate change-related issues as well as impacting on carbon-intensive activities such as transport, manufacturing and energy generation. The EPA had been under orders from the Supreme Court to determine whether carbon dioxide is a pollutant which endangers public health and welfare, but the process had been stalled under the previous Bush administration.

As a pollutant, carbon dioxide would then be able to be regulated under the existing framework of the Clean Air Act, and would most likely lead to emission caps placed on a wide array of businesses - a prospect which is proving to be extremely controversial in the recent economic slump.

Not content with the prospect of a single legislation weapon, however, the EPA is now also looking at harnessing the Clean Water Act on the basis of the role of the carbon dioxide in acidifying the world’s oceans. Increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere forces more of it to dissolve into the seas, which in turn yields higher levels of carbonic acid (H₂CO₃). This process of acidification is being scientifically proven to impair the ability of plankton, corals and other marine organisms to build skeletons and maintain protective shells. Some of the world’s most diverse ecosystems are therefore at serious risk of destruction, particularly flagship coral reefs such as the Great Barrier Reef.

By using the restriction of pH standards in marine waters as a further tool for the restriction of carbon dioxide emissions, the EPA is strengthening its hand against the US’s industrial sectors. Whether the politicians have the nerve to support them in this fight still remains to be seen, with the global economic recession giving them another timely excuse to cling to as they look to defer politically risky legislation for yet another day.

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