Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions is Soon to be a Big Political Decision

In February, the Supreme Court will hear a case on a greenhouse-gas permitting program for industrial facilities, which is considered a precursor to the Obama Administration's plan to limit carbon dioxide emissions from the United States' 1,600 coal- and gas-fired factories.

Many environmentalists believe that now is the time to capitalize on such critical environmental issues because after these decisions are made, it may take a while for the subject to surface again. Progress has already been made on the subject matter after the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA must regulate the emission of greenhouse gases if evidence shows they endanger public health.

"If we're going to make any meaningful progress on climate, it very much matters how strong these rules are," said Mary Anne Hitt, the Director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign, via this Audubon magazine article.

Obama might be handcuffed to making the drastic decision of limiting greenhouse gas emissions. At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2009, he promised to reduce such emissions 17% below the 2005 levels by 2020. The time to make that decision will be coming in June.

In support of the movement, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) believes they have a plan that will hold up in court and effectively reduce emissions 26% by 2020. In that case, the EPA would be forced to set emissions limits for each state, ultimately leading to the adoption of cleaner energy sources, such as solar and wind.

Environmental supporters believe that if such reductions cannot be made, perhaps a carbon tax would help solve the problem. If the government is unable to or does not find it necessary to drastically lower greenhouse gas emissions, then an excise tax can possibly be implemented on the carbon content of power plant fuels. Adele Morris, the Policy Director of the Brookings Institution's Climate and Energy Economics Project believes that a carbon tax would prove the United States' serious stance on this environmental issue.

To read more about the details of the upcoming political agenda and what many politicians and environmentalists have to say about it, visit this Audubon Magazine article.