Bush Ordered Federal Regulation of Greenhouse Gases

Bush Ordered Federal Regulation of Greenhouse Gases

 
May 2007 -   After resisting the regulation of 
greenhouse gases since he took office in 2001, President George W. Bush 
today signed an Executive Order directing four federal agencies to develop 
regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions from new mobile sources. 
Greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide emitted by the combustion of 
fossil fuels, contribute to global climate change. 
The President directed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, the 
Department of Transportation, the Department of Energy, and the Department 
of Agriculture to work together "to protect the environment with respect 
to greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles, nonroad vehicles, and 
nonroad engines, in a manner consistent with sound science, analysis of 
benefits and costs, public safety, and economic growth," the Executive 
Order states. 
President George W. Bush announces his new greenhouse gas policy in the 
White House Rose Garden. From left: Energy Deputy Secretary Clay Sell, 
Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, President Bush, EPA Administrator 
Stephen Johnson, and Agricultural Secretary Mike Johanns. 
The President's new policy is based on a decision by the U.S. Supreme 
Court April 2 in Massachusetts v. EPA that the Bush administration failed 
to follow the requirements of the Clean Air Act when it refused to 
regulate greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles. 
Announcing his new policy at the White House today, President Bush said, 
"Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA must take action under 
the Clean Air Act regarding greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles. 
So today, I'm directing the EPA and the Department of Transportation, 
Energy, and Agriculture to take the first steps toward regulations that 
would cut gasoline consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from motor 
vehicles, using my 20-in-10 plan as a starting point." 
The president announced his "20-in-10 plan" in January during his State of 
the Union address. It aims to cut America's gasoline usage by 20 percent 
over the next 10 years. 
President Bush announces his 20-in-10 plan during his State of the Union 
address. January 23, 2007. 
Bush has sent Congress a proposal that would meet this goal in two steps. 
First, a mandatory fuel standard that requires 35 billion gallons of 
renewable and other alternative fuels by 2017. "That's nearly five times 
the current target," he said. 
The second step is an increase in fuel efficiency standards for light 
trucks and cars. 
"The steps I announced today are not a substitute for effective 
legislation," Bush said today. "Members of my Cabinet, as they begin the 
process toward new regulations, will work with the White House, to work 
with Congress, to pass the 20-in-10 bill." 
Developing regulations will require "coordination across many different 
areas of expertise," Bush said today. 
"This is a complicated legal and technical matter, and it's going to take 
time to fully resolve. Yet it is important to move forward, so I have 
directed members of my administration to complete the process by the end 
of 2008." Bush's term of office expires January 20, 2009. 
EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson said, "This is a complex issue, and EPA 
will ensure that any possible rulemaking impacting the emissions from all 
new mobile sources throughout the entire United States will adhere to 
federal law." 
Johnson said that while the 20-in-10 plan would serve as a guide, "we have 
not reached any conclusions about what any final rule will look like." 
"We will solicit comment on a proposed rule from a broad array of 
stakeholders and other interested members of the public," he said. "Our 
ultimate decision must reflect a thorough consideration of public comments 
and an evaluation of how it fits within the scope of the Clean Air Act." 
Traffic in the San Francisco Bay Area. Each vehicle emits greenhouse gases 
into the atmosphere. 
"While this is the first regulatory step," said Johnson, "it builds on the 
Bush administration’s unparalleled financial, international and domestic 
commitments to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. 
"Since 2001, EPA and the entire administration have invested more than $37 
billion to study climate change science, promote energy-efficient and 
carbon dioxide-reducing technologies, and fund tax incentive programs," 
Johnson said. "That’s more money than any other country in the world has 
spent to address this global challenge." 
On Capitol Hill, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said, "The President's 
announcement today is one more in a long series of pronouncements claiming 
to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Yet after six years of failed 
energy policies that have favored Big Oil, the American people are still 
left with record gas prices and record dependence on foreign oil." 
"It appears that the President wants to run out the clock to the end of 
his term without addressing our energy needs, because the executive order 
will do nothing to promote energy independence. Instead," Pelosi said, "it 
is clearly designed to bog down the Environmental Protection Agency in a 
bureaucratic interagency process that will ensure that no steps are taken 
to regulate greenhouse gases from motor vehicles." 
"Here in the House, we are working to develop legislation that will reduce 
energy dependence and global warming emissions; we will introduce a 
package of initiatives that will make this July 4th Energy Independence 
Day." 
Congressman Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who chairs the Select 
Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, today welcomed 
President Bush’s reiteration of his "20-in-10" plan, which includes a goal 
of increasing fuel economy standards by four percent a year for 10 years, 
but warned that such a goal will never be achieved unless this requirement 
is made mandatory through legislation. 
Massachusetts Congressman Edward Markey is chairman of the House Select 
Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. 
"After six years of hemming and hawing on setting fuel economy standards, 
the President has suddenly discovered the regulatory powers he has had all 
along," Markey said. 
"Only asking for agency heads to take the first steps towards new rules 
will leave motor vehicle fuel economy stuck in neutral until Bush’s 
successor takes office," Markey added. 
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, "Six years ago this week, the 
Bush-Cheney secret task force made up of oil and energy company lobbyists 
released its report on the nation's energy policy. Since then, the 
administration has rolled back environmental regulations, ignored climate 
change and under-funded the energy research budget. Meanwhile, our oil 
dependency and consumption have grown, harming our national security and 
leaving America vulnerable to price shocks and supply disruptions." 
"Democrats are committed to achieving greater energy independence - an 
issue this administration and past Republican Congresses have failed to 
adequately address. In the coming weeks, we will move forward with 
bipartisan legislation that will increase the production of clean 
renewable fuels, improve energy efficiency, punish gas price gougers and 
support research on greenhouse gas capture and storage," said Reid. 
The oil savings that might be obtained by the President's proposal May 2007,
 it issued a ruling which delayed the 
compliance date for a 30 percent reduction from 2010 to 2030. The rule is 
opposed by environmental groups and Teel says it is "likely" to be 
challenged in court. 
Frank O'Donnell of the nonprofit Clean Air Watch interpreted the Executive 
Order as "an attempt to sideswipe the greenhouse gas standards developed 
by the state of California and adopted by 11 other states. The Bush 
administration apparently wants to knock those standards off the road." 
O'Donnell says because the four federal agencies are expected to concur on 
any news regulation, and must do so under the direction of the White House 
Office of Management and Budget and the Council on Environmental Quality 
"In other words," O'Donnell said, "the White House has just wrapped the 
EPA in a straitjacket of bureaucratic process." 
The nonprofit Diesel Technology Forum used the president's announcement to 
promote diesel fuel as part of the fuel economy and global warming 
solution. 
Allen Schaeffer, the Forum's executive director, said, "Diesel cars, 
trucks and SUVs deliver superior fuel economy - typically 20 percent to 40 
percent better than a comparable gasoline vehicle - without requiring 
drivers to sacrifice the power and performance Americans demand. 
"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that America could 
save up to 1.4 million barrels of oil per day - an amount equivalent to 
the oil we currently import from Saudi Arabia - if one-third of U.S. cars, 
pickup trucks and SUVs were diesel-powered," he said. 
Manufacturers, including Dodge, General Motors, Ford, BMW Group, Mercedes, 
Jeep, Audi, Volkswagen, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai and Mitsubishi, are 
planning to introduce new clean diesel vehicles in the next two to three 
years. 
The Grocery Manufacturers Association, GMA, supports the goal of reducing 
America's reliance on fossil fuels but cautioned that a sharp increase the 
use of corn for ethanol could hamper the ability of the food industry to 
provide consumers, both in the U.S. and around the world, with areliable 
and affordable supply of food. 
Cal Dooley, GMA president and CEO, said, "Consumers have already seen an 
increase in the cost of food, as corn traditionally used for livestock 
feed and processed food is increasingly used for fuel. In fact, the price 
of corn has nearly doubled in the last nine months." 
Cal Dooley is president and CEO of the Grocery Manufacturers Association. 
He served as a California Democrat in the U.S. Congress from 1991 to 2005. 

"In addition to its inflationary impact, there are many unintended, but 
nonetheless important, consequences of an ambitious corn ethanol 
strategy," Dooley warned. 
"A 35 billion gallon ethanol mandate will require a substantial increase 
in the use of fossil fuels for corn and ethanol processing and 
transportation, as well as an additional 15 million acres devoted to corn 
crops, which will encroach on agriculturally marginal and environmentally 
sensitive land," he said. 
To meet this mandate, the U.S. would have to cut its corn exports to 
ensure an adequate supply of corn for food and fuel, Dooley said. "Such a 
reduction will result in a decrease in the amount of food available 
overseas, which in turn will have a negative affect on world hunger." 
On a conference call with reporters today, Agriculture Secretary Mike 
Johanns attempted to assure the public that ethanol manufacture would not 
take food out of people's mouths. 
"We've already put forth a Farm Bill proposal that would increase funding 
for renewable energy by $1.6 billion. Without question, the President's 
proposals represent the most significant commitment to renewable energy 
that's ever been proposed in farm legislation," Johanns said. "It's 
focused on cellulosic ethanol, which is where we believe the next step is 
in terms of ethanol development. And it's also one of the building blocks 
that will help us achieve 20-in-10." 
Cellulosic ethanol is not made from corn kernels but is distilled from the 
fermentation of sugars from the entire plant, not just the grains. 
Perennial grasses, corn stover, sugar can bagasse, logging slash, and yard 
trimmings can all be sources of cellulosic ethanol. 
The Farm Bill proposals would expand research into cellulosic ethanol, to 
improve biotechnology, and create a better crop for conversion to 
renewable energy and to improve that conversion process, making it more 
efficient and, therefore, more commercially viable," Johanns said. 
The American Petroleum Institute, API, an industry trade association, said 
the industry has invested heavily to meet and exceed the federal 
requirement for ethanol-blended gasoline. "In 2006, we used 25 percent 
more than required - and, according to Energy Information Administration 
estimates, will exceed the 2007 requirement as well." 
The API says that the role of ethanol as a transportation energy source 
will be limited until technology breakthroughs permit economic production 
of cellulosic ethanol from biomass. 
"The timing of such breakthroughs is highly speculative," the API said. 
"There is no guarantee that technologies would emerge to enable 
large-scale economic cellulosic ethanol production in the next decade and 
ensure reliable energy for U.S. consumers at affordable prices." 
It is "critical" that any alternative fuels standard include technology 
and feasibility reviews that would trigger adjustments to mandates to 
ensure companies and consumers are not penalized if obstacles arise that 
prevent meeting usage targets, said the API. 
Chris Somerville, professor of biological sciences at Stanford University 
and director of the Carnegie Institution's Department of Plant Biology, 
estimates it will take seven to 10 years to produce cellulosic ethanol at 
competitive prices. 
"It is certainly possible to achieve Bush's goals technically," he said. 
"The question in my mind is whether investors are ready to put up the 
money required to make it happen."    

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