Water Laws May Be Used to Fight Warming. By Andrew C. Revkin, NYTimes, November 14, 2008. "Environmental groups have sought to force the federal government to restrict carbon dioxide emissions using the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act and other federal laws, and now they are poised to add the Clean Water Act to the list. The Center for Biological Diversity says it is prepared to sue the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to use the water law to respond to the threat of ocean acidification. This is the drop in seawater pH as the oceans absorb an estimated 22 million tons of carbon dioxide from the 80 million tons emitted each day by human activities. The result is a buildup of carbonic acid, which is lowering the pH of seawater. That trend toward acid conditions could threaten corals and plankton with shells containing calcium, biologists have warned. The Bush administration has strongly opposed legal maneuvers aimed at limiting greenhouse gases with existing environmental laws. Dana Perino, the White House spokeswoman, has warned that such efforts constitute a 'regulatory train wreck.' The environmental group cited a paper in the journal Science in July that stressed the need for the E.P.A. to update its water-quality standards for pH, which have not been updated since 1976."
2008-11-16
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