Bad news for the economy: EPA refuses review of CO2 "endangerment" finding

July 30, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Ted Hadzi-Antich

On July 28, 2010, EPA denied the petition by Pacific Legal Foundation to reconsider the agency's "endangerment" finding under the Clean Air Act, a finding that lays the groundwork for stringent regulation of greenhouse gases and could impose a crippling impact on the American economy. 

The denial was unwarranted and flies in the face of thousands of pages of evidence (sometimes referred to as the "Climategate" emails) questioning the data underlying the finding. 

In light of the Climategate revelations, PLF asked the EPA to reconvene the regulatory proceeding in order to afford the blue-ribbon Science Advisory Board the opportunity to review the Climategate data in detail and advise EPA whether the data requires a rescission or at least a serious reconsideration of the endangerment finding.

Unfortunately, EPA refused to allow the Science Advisory Board to review the Climategate evidence, casting a shadow over the entire regulatory proceeding.

PLF is in the process of analyzing EPA’s denial in detail and will determine its next steps. So far it appears that, by any fair yardstick, EPA’s refusal to send the information to the Science Advisory Board is based on politics and will have the effect of preventing further scientific review of the controversial data. The "Climategate" affair should have taught everyone that there is a need for greater openness in science; this is a lesson that EPA has not learned.

There is a 60-day window for PLF to challenge the denial in court.