On July 11 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it will seek months of further public comment regarding its regulation of greenhouse gases (GHGs), effectively delaying any decision until a new president takes office. The Supreme Court ruled in April 2007 that the EPA was required to determine whether or not GHGs pose a threat to public health, and if so, to regulate the pollutants under the Clean Air Act. In December 2007, the EPA prepared a document that found that global warming is unequivocal, that there is "compelling and robust" evidence that the emissions endanger public welfare and that the EPA administrator is "required by law" to act to protect Americans from future harm. The EPA has since revised this finding and is now seeking public comment on whether the government should regulate GHGs.

Following this announcement, other members of the Administration disavowed the EPA's plan to seek public comment, saying the proposed approach is unworkable. "The EPA staff has now prepared a draft suggesting that the Clean Air Act can be both workable and effective for addressing global climate change by regulating [GHG] emissions from stationary and mobile sources of virtually every kind," a letter signed jointly by the secretaries of agriculture, commerce, transportation and energy said. "Our agencies have serious concerns with this suggestion because it does not recognize the enormous—and we believe, insurmountable—burdens, difficulties, and costs, and likely limited benefits, of using the Clean Air Act to regulate GHG emissions." Susan E. Dudley, administrator of the White House Office of Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, wrote in a separate letter, "The issues raised during interagency review are so significant that we have been unable to reach interagency consensus in a timely way, and as a result, this staff draft cannot be considered Administration policy or representative of the views of the Administration."

For more information see:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/11/AR2008071101703.html?hpid=topnews
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN1149339120080711
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/07/11/EPA_to_delay_on_greenhouse_gases/UPI-40381215753960/