U.S. to Issue CO2 Emissions Regulations This Spring

The Bush administration will reportedly recommend new carbon dioxide emissions rules, a U.S. environmental official told Congress on Thursday.

The rules will have a direct impact on everything from cars and trucks to power plants and oil refineries.

Stephen Johnson, administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, said the agency plans to issue new rules related to the effects of the climate change as well as potential regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from stationary and mobile sources.

In the letter he sent to congressional leaders, the EPA administrator responded to a Supreme Court ruling that the agency should reconsider its 2003 refusal to regulate carbon-dioxide emissions from new vehicles under the Clean Air Act.

Through his letter, Johnson tries to seek comment from industry and the public in an attempt to change course before the final regulations are issued.

The White House was accused of stalling so President Bush could end his mandate before the rules are implemented. Bush ends his second and last term at the White House in January 2009 and it’s very probable that the rules won’t take effect by then.

Although knowing the fact that the United States is the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter, the Bush administration wouldn’t allow emission limits arguing that China and India, the other world’s big greenhouse gas emitters, have done nothing of the sort.