The White House is trying to stop the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from releasing a document that shows how the Clean Air Act could be used to regulate greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, according to The Wall Street Journal, whose reporters have seen the document and spoken to EPA staff about it.

The draft document is a formal response to the April 2007 Supreme Court ruling that declared greenhouse gases are pollutants under the Clean Air Act and that the EPA has the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles and other vehicles. But the EPA can’t make the document public until the White House approves it, and that’s where things have gotten sticky.

What Does the EPA Report Say About Greenhouse Gases?
The EPA document spells out several conclusions that have rubbed Bush administration officials the wrong way.

• First, the EPA says that greenhouse gas emissions and climate change are threats to public welfare, a prerequisite that would allow the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.

• Second, the EPA document says that cars and trucks could be made more fuel-efficient by 2020 than the 35 miles per gallon required by the latest Bush administration update to the CAFE standards, and that increasing fuel efficiency would help to address climate change. According to The Wall Street Journal, the draft document "suggests the EPA staff is contemplating issuing motor-vehicle emissions standards that would be more stringent than currently required by federal law and would be phased in more quickly."

• Third, and perhaps most damaging to Bush administration policies, the document reports that the EPA looked at the cost of regulating greenhouse gases and concluded, “The net benefit to society could be in excess of $2 trillion.” President Bush has consistently opposed economy-wide environmental actions, arguing in part that they are too costly.

White House Ignores, then Edits the EPA Report
Bush administration officials at first were unwilling to acknowledge the report, refusing even to open email from the EPA that outlined the agency’s findings and recommendations. But now White House officials have asked the EPA to delete references to greenhouse gas emissions endangering public welfare, how greenhouse gases could be regulated (such as the EPA recommendation for a cap-and-trade system similar to those already in place for acid rain and mercury), and the costs or benefits of regulation.

So despite the Supreme Court ruling, which rejected the Bush administration’s argument that the Clean Air Act could not be used to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, the White House persists in stonewalling constructive efforts by government scientists and officials to address the problem.

Responding to this latest anti-environment maneuver by President Bush, U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, the Massachusetts Democrat who chairs the House Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, said “it is clear the enemy of progress is in the White House.”

"Their decision to ignore and redirect the EPA ensures the Bush administration will achieve a perfect record on global warming: a zero," Markey said in a statement.

_{Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images}

Read more:

• White House Blocks EPA Emissions Draft -- The Wall Street Journal [paid subscription required]
• U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Bush Policy on Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions
• Bush on Global Warming: Decider or Dissembler?
• Bush Announces U.S. Plan to Tackle Global Warming
• Federal Scientists Accuse Bush of Climate Science Censorship
• U.S. Senators Seek Investigation of Bush Attempts to Silence Scientists on Global Warming
• Federal Agencies Investigate Claims that Bush Administration Muzzled Scientists