EPA Mulls Limits for Power Plant Emissions

By Eric Pianin, Washington Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, February 28, 2001; Page A13

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd Whitman said yesterday that the Bush administration is considering imposing limits on carbon dioxide emissions from the nation's power plants.

As a sign of the White House's concern about global warming, administration officials have begun discussions among themselves and with congressional leaders about adopting a policy designed to limit the emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to the Earth's rising temperature.

Whitman would not define precisely what she and the White House would support, but she raised the possibility of adding carbon dioxide to the existing regulatory mix that includes emission levels of nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and certain sources of mercury.

While President Bush will not be bound by an international global warming agreement reached in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997 that he criticized during the campaign, Whitman said, "This president is very sensitive to the issue of global warming."

"There's no question but that global warming is a real phenomenon, that it is occurring," Whitman said after an appearance before a Senate committee. "And while scientists can't predict where the droughts will occur, where the flooding will occur precisely or when, we know those things will occur."

Democrats and Republicans introduced legislation last year to reduce the emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon dioxide and mercury from power plants. Sen. Robert C. Smith (R-N.H.), chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, intends to introduce similar legislation this year, according to aides, and has discussed the measure with Whitman.

Whitman emphasized that limits on carbon emissions would have to be considered as part of a broader proposal to also regulate other pollutants coming from the burning of fossil fuels. "It's putting it into the process and recognizing that we have to deal with it, which would be to put a cap of some sort, a target anyway," she said.

Environmental groups that have been skeptical of the president's commitment to cleaning the air and reducing greenhouse gases praised the administration's expression of support for a "multi-pollutant" approach as an important first step. "It's a real indication this issue has moved significantly in the eyes of the public and industry leaders," said Jennifer L. Morgan, director of the World Wildlife Fund's climate change campaign.

Bush advisers had considered including a mention of the proposal in the president's address to Congress last night, but a reference to it was dropped in response to a last-minute lobbying effort by the coal industry. More than half the nation's power is generated by coal-burning power plants.

Whitman leaves today for Trieste, Italy, to attend a meeting of the environmental ministers of the Group of Eight -- the seven major industrialized countries and Russia. Bush and his advisers have made increasing domestic energy production a top priority but have had little to say about the related issue of cleaning up the environment.

Bush opposes the Kyoto Protocol for reducing greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, charging that it is "unfair to America" and exempts most Third World countries. At the administration's request, United Nations officials agreed recently to delay the next round of formal global warming treaty negotiations, which had been set for May, until this summer.

© 2001 The Washington Post Company

-- Swissrose (cellier3@mindspring.com), February 28, 2001