Isramart : Carbon copy: EPA may step in on cap and trade

Isramart news:
Americans who don’t want to see just about everything they buy or use cost more under the weight of a cap-and-trade global warming bill pushed by the Obama administration are thankful the legislation is a dead letter in the U.S. Senate.

Unfortunately, there’s another reason for concern. What the administration can’t get through Congress legislatively might be done through the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Web site InsideEPA.com reports the agency is close to finalizing a vehicle emissions rule that also will define carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases as subject to the Clean Air Act — allowing EPA to further regulate power plants and other “stationary sources.”

That’s ominous. Although the Supreme Court said in a 2007 ruling that carbon dioxide is a pollutant, it left open the question of whether it could be regulated by government. That appears to be where the Obama EPA is headed.

The administration says it prefers that Congress decide the rules on CO2 emissions, but with cap and trade belly-up in the Senate, EPA apparently is poised to step in. The agency’s vehicle emissions rule is expected next spring, according to InsideEPA.com.

The result could be taxing. The EPA could mandate cap-and-trade-like restrictions on power plants and other emitters that would have a similar cost effect rippling through the economy, with consumers ultimately paying the price.

Members of Congress who have halted cap and trade should pay attention to EPA’s plans, lest the agency uncork rules that are similarly burdensome to the economy.