Climate Change Policy Update Week of February 4-8, 2008

Commentary: Falling mercury usually signifies global cooling, but falling mercury regulations could signify a new twist in global warming legislation. This week, a Federal court vacated EPA's Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR), which would have established a cap-and-trade program for mercury emissions from power plants. The demise of the CAMR could revive interest in Congress in what had been called the "4-P" approach to regulating the power sector. Sen. Carper (D-DE) has been the leading proponent of this approach, calling for a program to establish coordinated caps for power plant emissions of mercury, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and CO2. Sen. Carper has further asserted that a power sector-only program would be an easier launching point for U.S. greenhouse gas regulation than an economy-wide program.