The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9,1970;it began operation on December 2,1970,after Nixon signed an executive order. The order establishing the EPA was ratified by committee hearings in the House and Senate.
The California Air Resources Board is an agency of the government of California that aims to reduce air pollution. Established in 1967 when then-governor Ronald Reagan signed the Mulford-Carrell Act,combining the Bureau of Air Sanitation and the Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Board,CARB is a department within the cabinet-level California Environmental Protection Agency.
The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006,or Assembly Bill (AB) 32,is a California State Law that fights global warming by establishing a comprehensive program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from all sources throughout the state. AB32 was co-authored by then-Assemblymember Fran Pavley and then-Speaker of the California Assembly Fabian Nunez and signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on September 27,2006.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District,also using the acronym South Coast (AQMD),formed in 1976,is the air pollution agency responsible for regulating stationary sources of air pollution in the South Coast Air Basin and the Coachella Valley portion of the Salton Sea Air Basin,in Southern California. The separate California Air Resources Board is responsible for regulating mobile sources (e.g. vehicles) in the air basin.
The United States produced 5.2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2020,the second largest in the world after greenhouse gas emissions by China and among the countries with the highest greenhouse gas emissions per person. In 2019 China is estimated to have emitted 27% of world GHG,followed by the United States with 11%,then India with 6.6%. In total the United States has emitted a quarter of world GHG,more than any other country. Annual emissions are over 15 tons per person and,amongst the top eight emitters,is the highest country by greenhouse gas emissions per person. However,the IEA estimates that the richest decile in the US emits over 55 tonnes of CO2 per capita each year. Because coal-fired power stations are gradually shutting down,in the 2010s emissions from electricity generation fell to second place behind transportation which is now the largest single source. In 2020,27% of the GHG emissions of the United States were from transportation,25% from electricity,24% from industry,13% from commercial and residential buildings and 11% from agriculture. In 2021,the electric power sector was the second largest source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions,accounting for 25% of the U.S. total. These greenhouse gas emissions are contributing to climate change in the United States,as well as worldwide.
United States vehicle emission standards are set through a combination of legislative mandates enacted by Congress through Clean Air Act (CAA) amendments from 1970 onwards,and executive regulations managed nationally by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),and more recently along with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). These standard cover common motor vehicle air pollution,including carbon monoxide,nitrogen oxides,and particulate emissions,and newer versions have incorporated fuel economy standards.
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals,particulate matter,or biological materials into the atmosphere,causing harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms,or damaging ecosystems. Air pollution can cause health problems including,but not limited to,infections,behavioral changes,cancer,organ failure,and premature death. These health effects are not equally distributed across the U.S population;there are demographic disparities by race,ethnicity,socioeconomic status,and education. Air pollution can derive from natural sources,or anthropogenic sources. Anthropogenic air pollution has affected the United States since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
The Clean Air Act (CAA) is the United States' primary federal air quality law,intended to reduce and control air pollution nationwide. Initially enacted in 1963 and amended many times since,it is one of the United States' first and most influential modern environmental laws.
Pollution in California relates to the degree of pollution in the air,water,and land of the state of California. Pollution is defined as the addition of any substance or any form of energy to the environment at a faster rate than it can be dispersed,diluted,decomposed,recycled,or stored in some harmless form. The combination of three main factors are the cause of notable unhealthy levels of air pollution in California:the activities of over 39 million people,a mountainous terrain that traps pollution,and a warm climate that helps form ozone and other pollutants. Eight of the ten cities in the US with the highest year-round concentration of particulate matter between 2013 and 2015 were in California,and seven out of the ten cities in the US with the worst ozone pollution were also in California. Studies show that pollutants prevalent in California are linked to several health issues,including asthma,lung cancer,birth complications,and premature death. In 2016,Bakersfield,California recorded the highest level of airborne pollutants of any city in the United States.
A low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) is an emissions trading rule designed to reduce the average carbon intensity of transportation fuels in a given jurisdiction,as compared to conventional petroleum fuels,such as gasoline and diesel. The most common methods for reducing transportation carbon emissions are supplying electricity to electric vehicles,supplying hydrogen fuel to fuel cell vehicles and blending biofuels,such as ethanol,biodiesel,renewable diesel,and renewable natural gas into fossil fuels. The main purpose of a low-carbon fuel standard is to decrease carbon dioxide emissions associated with vehicles powered by various types of internal combustion engines while also considering the entire life cycle,in order to reduce the carbon footprint of transportation.
The indirect land use change impacts of biofuels,also known as ILUC or iLUC,relates to the unintended consequence of releasing more carbon emissions due to land-use changes around the world induced by the expansion of croplands for ethanol or biodiesel production in response to the increased global demand for biofuels.
The climate change policy of the United States has major impacts on global climate change and global climate change mitigation. This is because the United States is the second largest emitter of greenhouse gasses in the world after China,and is among the countries with the highest greenhouse gas emissions per person in the world. In total,the United States has emitted over 400 billion metric tons of greenhouse gasses,more than any country in the world.
The,United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began regulating greenhouse gases (GHGs) under the Clean Air Act from mobile and stationary sources of air pollution for the first time on January 2,2011. Standards for mobile sources have been established pursuant to Section 202 of the CAA,and GHGs from stationary sources are currently controlled under the authority of Part C of Title I of the Act. The basis for regulations was upheld in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in June 2012.
The California Statewide Truck and Bus Rule was initially adopted in December 2008 by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and requires all heavy-duty diesel trucks and buses that operate in California to retrofit or replace engines in order to reduce diesel emissions. All privately and federally owned diesel-fueled trucks and buses,and privately and publicly owned school buses with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) greater than 14,000 pounds,are covered by the regulation.
Litigation related to climate change and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has become increasingly common in federal and state courts. Following adoption of the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 and publication of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4),additional pressure was placed on California public agencies to evaluate potential adverse effects to global climate change caused by GHG emissions. In particular,several lawsuits have been filed against agencies for failure to analyze GHG emissions generated by projects subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Court decisions prior to the 2010 revisions to the CEQA guidelines gave early insights as to how CEQA would be used as a vehicle to identify and mitigate GHG emissions within the state. Decisions issued after adoption of the revised guidelines are now being used to interpret CEQA's new requirement to evaluate GHG emissions and climate change.
Regina McCarthy is an American air quality expert who served as the first White House national climate advisor from 2021 to 2022. She previously served as the thirteenth Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from 2013 to 2017.
The Clean Power Plan was an Obama administration policy aimed at combating anthropogenic climate change that was first proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in June 2014. The final version of the plan was unveiled by President Obama on August 3,2015. Each state was assigned an individual goal for reducing carbon emissions,which could be accomplished how they saw fit,but with the possibility of the EPA stepping in if the state refused to submit a plan. If every state met its target,the plan was projected to reduce carbon emissions from electricity generation 32% by 2030,relative to 2005 levels,as well as achieving various health benefits due to reduced air pollution.
The environmental policy of the Donald Trump administration represented a shift from the policy priorities and goals of the preceding Barack Obama administration. Where President Obama's environmental agenda prioritized the reduction of carbon emissions through the use of renewable energy with the goal of conserving the environment for future generations,the Trump administration policy was for the US to attain energy independence based on fossil fuel use and to rescind many environmental regulations. By the end of Trump's term,his administration had rolled back 98 environmental rules and regulations,leaving an additional 14 rollbacks still in progress. As of early 2021,the Biden administration was making a public accounting of regulatory decisions under the Trump administration that had been influenced by politics rather than science.
As the most populous state in the United States,California's climate policies influence both global climate change and federal climate policy. In line with the views of climate scientists,the state of California has progressively passed emission-reduction legislation.
West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency,597 U.S. ___ (2022),was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court relating to the Clean Air Act,and the extent to which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can regulate carbon dioxide emissions related to climate change.
