9/1/2022 Special Presentation for Endorsers and Sponsors of Petition to EPA to Phase Out GHG Pollution

On June 16, 2022, CPR Initiative filed a citizens’ petition with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Petition to Phase Out GHG Pollution↗.

Petitioners include the renowned climate scientist James E. Hansen, former EPA scientist Donn J. Viviani, atmospheric chemist John Birks, climate accountability analyst Richard Heede, physician and clinical professor of psychiatry Lise Van Susteren, the non-profit organization Climate Science, Awareness & Solutions, and the non-profit organization Climate Protection & Restoration Initiative (CPRclimate.org). They are represented by attorney Dan Galpern. Read more here.↗

Specifically, Petitioners invoke a procedure under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) requiring EPA to act to restrict chemicals that present an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment. In the Petition, they demand a phase out of continuing GHG pollution within reach of US law, and an abatement of the current high levels of GHGs in the atmosphere. Petitioners also press EPA to engage in a consultative rulemaking process that solicits input from groups most affected by climate change.

Get more of your questions answered by visiting our FAQs page↗ or learn more about the petition in the news↗

Our filing triggered a 90-day legal deadline, so EPA now has until September 14 to respond to our Petition.

If EPA determines that GHG pollutants present an unreasonable risk, then the Agency is required to “promptly commence an appropriate proceeding” – including full public participation – to develop a new federal rule imposing limits “to the extent necessary so that the chemical substance. . . no longer presents such risk.”

Gaining EPA’s determination that GHGs now present an unreasonable risk, and then securing a strong federal decarbonization rule, will not be easy. We need to build, and demonstrate strong public support. And that is where you come in!

Find out if you have Endorsed the Petition↗ and Sponsored the Campaign↗. If you have not endorsed or sponsored yet, you can still do so here↗.

On July 27, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022, was agreed to by Senators Chuck Schumer of New York and Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Although the bill, signed into law by President Biden on August 16, 2022, included some climate-related investments, they did not exactly transform it into a climate bill.

The clean energy investments in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) are an important step forward, but we know well that far more is needed to ensure a sustainable future and our citizens’ petition to EPA is more important than ever. Together, we must demand a phase out of GHG pollution without further delay.

Read more about the IRA here↗

The US Supreme Court’s June 30, 2022, West Virginia v. EPA decision restricted select authority of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to compel a reduction in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from power plants. In justification, the Court wielded its “major questions doctrine” to closely scrutinize what it deemed to be EPA’s patent attempt to exercise substantial control over the US energy market.

The Court thus appears to have narrowed the quantum of discretion it traditionally accords federal agencies when they interpret laws that Congress directed them to implement.

To learn more, watch our July 8, 2022 webinar on the Impact of West v EPA, CPR Initiative’s Petition to Phase Out GHG Pollution: What’s The Supreme Court Got to Do With It?

And listen to Climate Emergency Forum’s July 6, 2022 interview of CPR Initiative General Counsel & Executive Director Dan Galpern, WV v EPA – How Much Law Remains?