EPA hopes to tighten emissions standards on cars

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration will unveil a proposal Friday to clean up gasoline and automobile emissions, a step that officials say will result in cleaner air across the U.S. and slightly higher prices at the pump.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the rule to reduce sulfur in gasoline and tighten emissions standards on cars beginning in 2017 could increase gas prices by less than a penny per gallon and add $130 to the cost of a vehicle in 2025.

But the agency says it will yield billions of dollars in health benefits by slashing smog- and soot-forming pollution come 2030.

The oil industry, Republicans and some Democrats had pressed the EPA to delay the rule, citing higher costs. An oil industry study says the rule could increase gasoline prices by 6 to 9 cents per gallon.

The so-called Tier 3 standards would reduce sulfur in gasoline by more than 60 percent and reduce nitrogen oxides by 80 percent, by expanding across the country a standard already in place in California. For states, the regulation will make it easier to comply with health-based standards for the main ingredient in smog and soot. For automakers, the regulation allows them to sell the same autos in all 50 states.

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http://www.salon.com/2013/03/29/epa_hopes_to_tighten_emissions_standar

Obama Nominee for EPA Has Track Record of Safeguarding Health and the Environment

President Obama has announced he is nominating Gina McCarthy to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. McCarthy's track record of standing up for clean air, climate action, and public health shows that we can count on her to protect our environment and communities.

http://theenergycollective.com/francesbeinecke/194791/obama-nominee-ep

Green Ink: EPA Ruling Energizes Copenhagen, Horrifies Business - Environmental Capital - WSJ

In Copenhagen, the big news was the U.S. EPA’s endangerment ruling, which gives the Obama administration executive authority to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions. The ruling could give President Obama more firepower when he comes to the climate summit, in the Financial Times. It also wins plaudits from European leaders, who see the move as a way to lubricate negotiations, in the NY Times. The ruling finalizes months of deliberation by the EPA, but questions still remain over just what the agency could regulate, in the WSJ. Or if it even wants to: “EPA regulation is no one’s preferred outcome — not even the EPA’s. Jackson said her agency and other administration officials would still prefer if Congress acted before they did,” notes the Washington Post. Of course this is par for the course to have the business-friendly Wall St. Journal noting business concerns above the need to address damage business does to the environment.