Climate Change Attorney Blog
In what may signal another break with Bush Administration policy, EPA Administrator Jackson issued a letter in response to a petition from the Sierra Club indicating the EPA would review a Bush Administration memo interpreting the scope of the Clean Air Act. While refusing to stay the Bush era memorandum, the letter states that the memorandum should not be considered the “last word on the appropriate interpretation of the Clean Air requirements.”
The memorandum relates to the application of regulations to carbon dioxide emissions. An EPA press release concerning the letter to the Sierra Club states, in part, that the review will ensure that the ultimate interpretation “is consistent with the Obama Administration’s climate change strategy and interpretation of the Clean Air Act.” As noted in the press, this review may have significant impacts on the regulation of carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants.