Lisa Jackson on Health Care

Greenhouse gases declared dangerous to public health

The announcement deliberately coincided with the climate change conference, which aims to establish an international treaty to reduce greenhouse emissions. Of course, the president cannot implement a treaty by himself; he needs the approval of two-thirds of the U.S. Senate. So the EPA's announcement was actually a threat to circumvent the Senate's constitutional prerogatives. Obama was indicating he would commit the United States to carbon-cutting goals reached at Copenhagen, and if the Senate refused to approve a carbon-cutting treaty or to pass capo and trade, Obama would simply use the EPA to regulate carbon whether the Senate likes it or not.