EPA Sets Cap on Greenhouse Gases

Get ready to breathe deep: The Environmental Protection Agency unveiled a final rule under the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions. Beginning in July 2011, new polluters that contribute at least 100,000 tons of greenhouse gases a year and any existing plant that increases emissions by 75,000 tons will need permits. The new rule has increased the previously predicted bar of 25,000 tons a year, which was changed after acknowledging it was too low. The EPA is expecting to issue around 550 permits within the first two years alone for facilities like coal-fired plants and refineries.