Horrified by the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico?\u00a0 5,000 barrels of dirty oil a day now polluting the waters only a few miles off the U.S. coast.\u00a0 Bobby Jindal, governor of Louisiana, has declared a State of Emergency, and the federal government is beginning to get involved in trying to stop the leak.\u00a0 It’s an environmental catastrophe already and getting worse by the hour.\u00a0 It’s unfortunate that we can’t declare the climate crisis as a “state of emergency”, because it is.<\/p>\n
Some day these types of devastating spills will be impossible, because people will finally get fed up with them and they will learn more about climate change as it becomes more apparent.\u00a0 Some day, there will be no more drilling for fossil fuels anywhere.\u00a0 The U.S. EPA is ready to move on restricting CO2 emissions now, and that will reduce the use of fossil fuels and eventually stop it.\u00a0 (that and a situation called “peak oil”)\u00a0 The Obama administration is now taking a “wait and see” approach to offshore drilling, even after announcing that more offshore drilling was to be a part of our energy future.\u00a0 (That is probably not likely at this point).<\/p>\n
Lisa Jackson, EPA administrator<\/p>\n
From the EPA Press Office –Statement of Lisa P. Jackson Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency<\/p>\n
Legislative Hearing on Clean Energy Policies That Reduce Our Dependence on Oil, House Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment<\/p>\n
Released April 28, 2010–WASHINGTON \u2013 Chairmen Markey and Waxman, Ranking Members Upton and Barton, Chairman Emeritus Dingell, and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to testify about the Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s work to reduce America\u2019s oil dependence and greenhouse gas emissions. That work stems from two seminal events.<\/p>\n
First, in April 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded in Massachusetts v. EPA that the Clean Air Act\u2019s definition of air pollution includes greenhouse gases. The Court rejected then-Administrator Johnson\u2019s refusal to determine whether that pollution from motor vehicles endangers public health or welfare.<\/p>\n
In response to the Supreme Court\u2019s decision, and based on the best available science and EPA\u2019s review of thousands of public comments, I found in December 2009 that motor-vehicle greenhouse gas emissions do endanger Americans\u2019 health and welfare.<\/p>\n
I am not alone in reaching that conclusion. Scientists at the 13 federal agencies that make up the U.S. Global Change Research Program have reported that unchecked greenhouse gas emissions pose significant risks to the wellbeing of the American public. The National Academy of Sciences has stated that the climate is changing, that the changes are mainly caused by human interference with the atmosphere, and that those changes will transform the environmental conditions on Earth unless counter-measures are taken.<\/p>\n
The second pivotal event was the agreement President Obama announced [...]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Horrified by the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico?\u00a0 5,000 barrels of dirty oil a day now polluting the waters only a few miles off the U.S. coast.\u00a0 Bobby Jindal, governor of Louisiana, has declared a State of … Continue reading