Coming across the wire from the Washington Post:
The Environmental Protection Agency today plans to propose regulating greenhouse gas emissions on the grounds that these pollutants pose a danger to the public’s health and welfare, according to several sources who asked not to be identified.
The move, coming almost exactly two years after the Supreme Court ordered the agency to examine whether emissions linked to climate change should be curbed under the Clean Air Act, would mark a major shift in the federal government’s approach to global warming.
According to a congressional aide who’s been briefed on EPA’s proposal, the agency indicates its preference for legislative action in the finding itself. But the endangerment finding also makes a broader case that the U.S. must act to limit greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, according to the aide, saying the science underlying its determination is “compelling and overwhelming.”
The agency also is planning to include a “cause or contribute” finding for cars, which implies that not only are greenhouse gases dangerous in general, but that such emissions from cars and trucks are reasonably likely to contribute to climate change.
What’s the over/under on the first Rethug screaming that the guv’mint is taking away their rights to despoil the planet?
This is big, folks, and it’s proof that elections matter.