The US Approach to Regulating GHG Emissions – A Practical Summary

In more than a decade since the Supreme Court held that greenhouse gases (GHGs) are “air pollutants” under the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has wrestled with how GHG emissions are to be regulated from existing, new, and modified sources. Last year, the Supreme Court held that EPA had gone too far in issuing regulations to restrict GHG emissions from power plants. Absent clear legislation from Congress, 16 states and Puerto Rico have adopted legislation establishing GHG emission reduction requirements. Other states have leveraged administrative and executive action to quantify GHG emissions, and to commit to GHG reduction. This presentation will provide a practical review of how GHG emissions are regulated in the US at the federal and state level.