Yesterday, December 7th, the EPA formally declared that greenhouse gases threaten public health and the environment.  In its news release, the EPA stated that greenhouse gases are “the primary driver of climate change, which can lead to hotter, longer heat waves that threaten the health of the sick, poor or elderly; increases in ground-level ozone pollution linked to asthma and other respiratory illnesses; as well as other threats to the health and welfare of Americans.”

The EPA’s finding of “endangerment” opens the possibility for the EPA to limit the output of carbon dioxide and other pollutants produced by large-emitters such as power plants, oil refineries, chemical plants and metal smelters.

According to Jeff Holmstead, a former EPA air administrator under the George W. Bush administration, this is the first time the EPA has ever made a standalone endangerment finding – without a corresponding rule-making.  The timing of the EPA’s decision may be political – as the Senate is still deliberating on a national climate bill, and international climate conferences open in Copenhagen – but that does not discredit the science behind the EPA’s determination.

The EPA’s decision, if nothing else, demonstrates the current administration’s deep commitment to enacting serious climate change policy.