WASHINGTON-  More than 100 groups have issued a letter supporting a legal petition filed earlier this month by the Center for Biological Diversity and 350.org that would require EPA to scientifically establish national safe limits for carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas pollution under the Clean Air Act. The petition seeks to have greenhouse gases designated as "criteria" air pollutants and atmospheric CO2 capped at 350 ppm, the level leading scientists say is needed to stop catastrophic warming.

The letter states: "We are writing in support of the petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and 350.org to cap greenhouse gas pollution under the Clean Air Act['s]”¦national ambient air quality program”¦For four decades, the Clean Air Act has protected the air we breathe through a proven, successful system of pollution control that saves lives and creates economic benefits exceeding its costs by many times. It's time to fully use our strongest existing tool for reducing greenhouse gas pollution: the Clean Air Act."

Individuals supporting the petition include eminent climate scientist Dr. James Hansen and Sierra Club Board Member Dr. Michael Dorsey.

Said Dr. Dorsey: "The Center for Biological Diversity and 350.org's petition is a bold step that can further enable President Obama to move in the right direction to quickly rein in climate change. Organizations and commentators that suggest the contrary misunderstand the urgency of avoiding a catastrophically destabilized climate." Dorsey is an assistant professor in Dartmouth College's Environmental Studies Program, director of the college's Climate Justice Research Project, a national Sierra Club board member and a cofounding board member of Islands First.

Stated Dr. James Hansen: "Setting science-based national pollution caps for greenhouse gases - such as no more than 350 parts per million for CO2 - would mark a critical step in the fight against global warming, and this petition is one way to bring us closer to that goal."

Organizations endorsing the petition include Friends of the Earth, Audubon chapters, Colorado Interfaith Power and Light, Eco-Justice Collaborative, Community Coalition for Environmental Justice of Seattle, Clean Air Carolina, and Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment.

"The Clean Air Act is a bipartisan bill signed by a Republican president. Leading scientists at NASA and around the world say we need to get to 350 ppm. This petition simply asks EPA to do its job as science, the law, and common sense require," said 350.org's Bill McKibben.

"Now's the time to implement the Clean Air Act. We urge EPA to move swiftly to grant the petition and use our strongest existing tool - the Clean Air Act - to reduce greenhouse gas pollution now. Any new global warming legislation must build upon, not replace, successful environmental protections," said Bill Snape, senior counsel at the Center for Biological Diversity.

The Obama administration has proposed emissions reduction targets of just 3 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, far below the cuts of approximately 45 percent necessary to get back to 350 ppm. Our current atmospheric CO2 level is 385 ppm.

The administration has said its hands are tied by the weak cap-and-trade bills proposed by Congress. In a report titled Yes, He Can: President Obama's Power to Make an International Climate Commitment Without Waiting for Congress, the Center concludes there is no legal requirement to wait for Congress before the president can take action to cut emissions. "President Obama can lead, rather than follow, by using his power under the Clean Air Act and other laws to achieve deep, rapid greenhouse emissions reductions from major polluters," said Kassie Siegel, director of the Center's Climate Law Institute, who attended the United Nations climate talks in Copenhagen.

The administration expressed its goal as a 17-percent reduction from the 2005 greenhouse gas emission level. The United Nations and most of the world express reduction goals based on 1990 levels. A 17-percent reduction from 2005 is equivalent to a 3-percent reduction from 1990.

Contact Info: Bill Snape, Center for Biological Diversity, (202) 536-9351, bsnape@biologicaldiversity.org

Website : Center for Biological Diversity