A Day of Infamy for Global Warming Fatalists

Al Gore can stow away his hypnotic bag of tricks, the Obama administration is planning to announce this afternoon greenhouse gases are a threat and must be regulated. Carbon dioxide (which we exhale) and other greenhouse emissions pose a danger to our health and well-being. Be careful when you exhale folks! EPA administrator Lisa Jackson will make the announcement which will confirm the "endangerment finding" the administration signaled a willingness to declare back in April.

The move bypasses the necessity for climate legislation to be enacted opening the door for federal regulations on businesses large and small though the administration thinks they claims they can carve out exemptions:

The endangerment finding stems from a 2007 Supreme Court decision in which the court ordered the EPA to determine whether greenhouse gases qualify as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act. It could trigger a series of federal regulations affecting polluters, from vehicles to coal-fired power plants.

Businesses argue that such a finding would mean even emitters as small as a mom-and-pop grocery store would be forced to comply with onerous greenhouse gas regulations. The administration has crafted rules that would exempt facilities that emit less than 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide or its equivalent annually. But it remains unclear if that exemption would hold up in court.

 In light of our fragile economy and 30 year high unemployment levels, adding new taxes to businesses can't be expected to speed along recovery.  The threat must be awfully serious or the announcement is timed to boost credibility of the ridiculous summit currently underway in Copenhagen.  Bet on the latter:

"This action poses a threat to every American family and business if it leads to regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. Such regulation would be intrusive, inefficient, and excessively costly," said the American Petroleum Institute president Jack Gerard in a statement. "There was no compelling deadline that forced EPA's hand on this decision. It is a decision that is clearly politically motivated to coincide with the start of the Copenhagen climate summit."

The Washington Post also reports business leaders predict the EPA regulations will be tied up in court for years which is hardly a consolation given this administration's propensity to act without the support of the American people.  Meanwhile the Al Gore brigade is just tickled pink with the news:

Bill Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, said officials on the state and local level "are extraordinarily pleased that President Obama is making this endangerment finding. It will trigger subsequent measures to continue on the road toward making significant progress to address the global warming problem."

Finally the Obama administration finds a problem they can solve.  Unfortunately it is one that doesn't exist.  

Read much more on this topic at Memeorandum