EPA asked to Limit Ship Greenhouse Gas

EPA asked to Limit Ship Greenhouse Gas



October 2007

 Citing the "threat of 
global climate disruption," California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown 
Jr. today joined three national environmental organizations in petitioning 
the United States Environmental Protection Agency to adopt strict 
greenhouse gas regulations for ocean-going vessels. The petition asks the 
EPA to make specific findings that ships contribute to global warming. 
At a news conference at the attorney general's headquarters in Los Angeles 
Tuesday, Brown said, "The U.S. EPA has the authority to curb greenhouse 
gas emissions and our petition today asks the agency to exercise that 
authority without delay." 
Brown joins Oceana, Friends of the Earth and the Center for Biological 
Diversity in petitioning the federal agency to act. 
They want the EPA to make a finding that carbon dioxide emissions from 
ocean-going vessels such as cargo and cruise ships contribute to air 
pollution and endanger human health and welfare. 
And they are asking that the EPA set standards for reducing such carbon 
dioxide emissions. 
The petitions begin the process of imposing mandatory regulations on the 
marine transportation sector. The petitioners asked the EPA to respond 
within 180 days. 
Ocean-going vessels, in total, emit more CO2 emissions than any nation in 
the world except the U.S., Russia, China, Japan, India and Germany, said 
Brown. "Ominously, these emissions are projected to increase nearly 75 
percent during the next 20 years." 
"International law guarantees a right of ‘innocent passage' for all 
ocean-going vessels, but this right does not include polluting the air or 
water near our coastal cities," Brown said. "If the U.S. is to do its part 
in reducing the threat of global climate disruption, then EPA must limit 
the global warming emissions from ships that enter the ports of the United 
States." 
Under the Clean Air Act, California has the authority to file a petition 
asking the EPA to establish standards for the emission of carbon dioxide, 
a greenhouse gas known to trap the Sun's heat close to the Earth. 
Brown said that under the reasoning of the United States Supreme Court's 
holding in Massachusetts v. EPA earlier this year, the Environmental 
Protection Agency has the authority to adopt standards for greenhouse gas 
emissions from vessels that enter U.S. territorial waters. 
The United Nations International Maritime Organization, IMO, has authority 
under international treaties to establish pollution standards for vessels 
but to date has failed to adopt controls on greenhouse gas emissions. 
At a recent meeting of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee, it 
was agreed to inventory greenhouse gases by 2009, but no commitment was 
made to regulate such emissions. 
"Climate change is threatening ocean life from the Arctic to the tropics," 
said Dr. Michael Hirshfield, Oceana's chief scientist and senior vice 
president for North America. "Shipping pollution has been given a free 
pass so far and it's way past time to fix that." 

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