Is Carbon Dioxide a Pollutant? ENVH 111 October 5, 2010 Carbon Dioxide is NOT a Pollutant! CO 2 is a natural component of the atmosphere We exhale it continuously Plants need it to grow and to produce oxygen If CO 2 is a pollutant, then what isnt a pollutant? Washington Times Editorial 3/29/09 Protect Us from the EPA CO 2 is natural If carbon dioxide wasnt around, there would be no plants Neither would there be any people or pets if we werent allowed to exhale Benefits of global warming Longer lives Greater biodiversity, agricultural production Ocean levels might rise, but parts of Canada and Russia would be much more habitable Washington Times Editorial 3/29/09 Protect Us from the EPA Its not clear that global warming is real Recent evidence of cooling Big factor is variations in the suns energy output Human activity is not affecting climate change Responsible for only small fraction of greenhouse gases Changes in GHG have little effect on global temperatures Proposed changes would be catastrophic We dont want to eliminate all carbon emissions What is a Pollutant? POLLUTE to make physically impure or unclean Contaminate Poison Defile Carbon Dioxide Benign? Carbon Dioxide Or Noxious? Carbon Dioxide: A Satanic Gas? Professor Patrick Michaels Testimony U.S. House of Representatives Greenpeace burns CO 2 in effigy CO 2 in the Workplace Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) 10,000 ppm (1%) CO 2 in atmosphere 390 ppm (0.039%) Too Much CO 2 Respiratory Acidosis Respiratory acidosis o Lungs cannot remove all of the CO 2 the body produces o Disrupts bodys acid-base balance (too acidic) Symptoms o Confusion o Lethargy o Shortness of breath o Sleepiness Too Little CO 2 Respiratory Alkalosis Respiratory alkalosis o Low levels of CO 2 in the blood o Disrupts bodys acid-base balance (too basic) Symptoms o Dizziness o Light-headedness o Numbness of hands and feet o Sleepiness Treatment o Breath into paper bag (re-breathe CO 2 ) The Greenhouse Effect Natural green- house effect increases surface temperatures by about 30 o C. Increasing greenhouse gas concentrations increases surface temperatures. Source: Martin Manning, Director, IPCC Working Group Atmospheric CO 2 Concentrations Charles Keeling Mauna Loa Volcano How CO 2 Became a Pollutant A second definition of pollutant o To contaminate an environment, especially with man-made waste o CO 2 is a waste gas of fossil fuel combustion Timeline o 1998 Clinton administration judged the Clean Air Act to be applicable to CO 2, but did not implement o 2003 Bush administration reversed this judgment o 2006 EPA rules that Clean Air Act does not apply to CO2 o Massachusetts files suit against EPA The Clean Air Act provides: The Administrator shall by regulation prescribe (and from time to time revise) in accordance with the provisions of this section, standards applicable to the emission of any air pollutant from any class or classes of new motor vehicles or new motor vehicle engines, which in his judgment cause, or contribute to, air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare. Supreme Court: Massachusetts vs EPA Global warming o Well-documented rise in global temperatures o Related to significant in increase in atmospheric CO 2 o The harms associated with climate change are serious and well-recognized. o EPA does not dispute causal connection Clean Air Act definition any air pollution agent... including any physical, chemical, biological, radioactive... substance or matter that is emitted into or otherwise enters the ambient air Supreme Court Ruling Greenhouse gases fit well within the Acts capacious definition of air pollutants EPA has statutory authority to regulate emission of such gases from new motor vehicles EPA required to regulate air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare EPA action was not arbitrary, capricious, or otherwise not in accordance with law EPA clears way for greenhouse gas rule NY Times, April 17, 2009 EPA formally declared carbon dioxide and five other heat-trapping gases to be pollutants that endanger public health and welfare, setting in motion a process that will lead to the regulation of the gases for the first time in the United States. Brings USA into line with European Community and Japan Six gases declared greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride Regulation of GHG under the Clean Air Act May 2007: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Massachusetts v. EPA that GHGs are air pollutants covered by the Clean Air Act. December 2009: EPA issued Endangerment Finding, stating that current and projected levels of six GHGs threaten the health and human welfare of current and future generations May 2010: EPA issued Tailoring Rule, permitting guidelines to the largest stationary sources of GHGs, excluding smaller factories, restaurants and farms December 2010: EPA issued guidance to states on implementing GHG permits January 2011: New GHG air permitting began for facilities that would have to get air permits for non-GHG pollutants anyway January 2011: EPA proposed a three-year deferral of GHG permits for biomass. July 2011: New GHG permitting began for new facilities that would emit: more than 100,000 tons of CO2 per year; where major modification increase emissions by 75,000 tons of CO2 per year