Regulating Climate: What Role for the Clean Air Act?

While the Obama administration has made climate change a priority and the House of Representatives has passed a bill, it remains uncertain when or if the Senate will act on this issue, much less what final legislation might be signed. Until then, the Clean Air Act (CAA) remains the law of the land. In light of the CAA's central role in addressing climate change over at least the near term and perhaps far longer, on March 26, 2009, a group of the nation’s leading CAA experts gathered at Duke University to focus specifically on how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could or should use the CAA to reduce the nation’s greenhouse gases (GHGs). This short article highlights the major points debated during the day-long conference and provides insights into the factors EPA will need to consider as it moves forward with crafting GHG regulations under Title I and Title II of the CAA.