2009 July Environment & Climate News: CO2 Regulation Will Be Costly, Staffer Warns

The July issue of Environment & Climate News covers the “leak” of an Obama administration staffer’s memo warning regulation of carbon dioxide emissions by the Environmental Protection Agency would have serious consequences for the U.S. economy. Also in this issue:

* CBS anchorman Charles Osgood, long known for his environmentalist values, has taken a stand as a global warming skeptic.

* The Environmental Protection Agency has decided carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases “endanger public health and welfare,” opening the door for the agency to regulate the gases under the Clean Air Act.

* The Minnesota Senate gave bipartisan approval to a bill that would lift a 15-year-old ban on the construction of new nuclear power plants in the state. Although the bill was narrowly defeated in the House, it marked strong progress in a longstanding effort to return nuclear power to the state’s energy portfolio.

* The Spanish government’s renewable energy initiatives—cited by President Barack Obama as a model for U.S. policy—have destroyed 2.2 jobs for every new “green” job created, a new study concludes.

* New polls from Rasmussen and CNN show only 39 percent of Americans believe humans are the primary cause of global warming, and a majority oppose cap-and-trade legislation to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

* The Arkansas General Assembly rebuffed the vast majority of recommendations from the Governor’s Commission on Global Warming, enacting very few of the suggested programs before adjourning for the year.