Reactions Mixed to Council on Environmental Quality's GHG Proposal

White House Council on Environmental Quality head Nancy Sutley defended the administration's proposal to require federal agencies to look at GHG emissions in preparing National Environmental Policy Act analyses, Greenwire reported. Sutley was quoted as saying: "There was really no question that there are environmental effects associated with climate change, and how could we not have that as part of agencies' thinking as they look at their NEPA obligations and looking at environmental impacts? What we've tried to craft is some very straightforward, common-sense guidance."

The proposal responded to a 2008 petition to CEQ filed by the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council and International Center for Technology Assessment asking CEQ to include climate change considerations in NEPA requirements.

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., the ranking member of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee, criticized the effort: "Using NEPA as a backdoor tool to regulate greenhouse gases will stifle job creation and create greater uncertainty for the economy. The Administration's proposed NEPA guidance for GHGs appears to do exactly that: it will enable federal agencies to block or delay production of America's domestic energy resources, which are the largest in the world." Sutley defended the action, adding that it was not intended to replace comprehensive climate and energy legislation.

Michael Gerrard, director of the Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School said his initial response to the proposal was "very positive," but "there are some self-avowed holes in it. It does not address how land management is to be analyzed, and that's an extremely important point."