EPA pushes to have companies track greenhouse gases

— -- In a move that paves the way for sweeping global-warming regulation, the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed requiring major U.S industries to measure their greenhouse gas emissions.

The plan would affect large emitters of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases, such as oil refiners and automobile manufacturers, as well as makers of cement, aluminum, glass and paper. Power plants would be included, though they already must monitor how much carbon dioxide they release under the Clean Air Act.

Under the rule, slated to be approved by year's end, companies would start tracking their emissions next year. "It's a very important step as we're moving forward to deal with climate change," says Dina Kruger, director of EPA's climate change division.

The proposal complies with legislation passed by Congress in 2007. Yet David Doniger, a policy director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, says the EPA's initiative is "another sign" President Obama is intent on curbing global warming. The Bush administration, he says, dragged its feet and withheld release of the proposed rule.

Congress is expected to consider climate-change legislation this spring, though it's sure to be contentious as it would raise costs for consumers during a brutal recession. A new law likely would place a cap on CO2 emissions that would grow stricter over time. Companies that exceed their limits could buy permits from those that fall below their caps. Separately, the EPA itself could regulate emissions under a 2007 Supreme Court ruling.

Either path would require a precise tally of CO2 discharges. The EPA chose a middle ground by requiring power plants or factories that release more than 25,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases a year to report their emissions. Congress is likely to follow that guideline as it weighs legislation, Doniger says.

The plan would affect about 13,000 facilities that release nearly 90% of greenhouse gases. The agency could have included facilities that spew as little as 1,000 tons of CO2, affecting up to 43,000 more facilities. But that would cut discharges by just another 1% or less. The "vast majority of small businesses" are unaffected, EPA says.