100 Groups To EPA: Cap Carbon Emissions Scientifically

The Environmental Protection Agency should cap carbon emissions scientifically, according to a petition submitted by over 100 environmental groups.

 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Environmental Protection Agency should cap carbon emissions scientifically, according to a petition submitted by over 100 environmental groups.

Specifically, the groups want the cap on greenhouse gases to be set at 350 parts per million across the United States.

“It’s time to fully use our strongest existing tool for reducing greenhouse gas pollution: the Clean Air Act,” stated the legal letter supported by the Center for Biological Diversity and 350.org.

The petition is also supported by the nation’s preeminent climate scientist, Dr. James Hansen, as well as Dr. Michael Dorsey, assistant professor in Dartmouth College’s Environmental Studies Program and director of the college’s Climate Justice Research Project.

Stated Bill McKibben of 350.org, “The Clean Air Act is a bipartisan bill signed by a Republican president. Leading scientists at NASA and around the world say we need to get to 350 ppm. This petition simply asks EPA to do its job as science, the law, and common sense require.”

The Obama administration’s proposed reduction targets are too far below the need cuts of about 45 percent necessary to get back to 350 ppm. The world’s current atmospheric CO2 level is approximately 385 ppm.

The groups urge Obama to implement the Clean Air Act in order to work around the cap-and-trade bills awaiting consider in the Senate.