US set to regulate greenhouse gases
The US edged towards regulating greenhouse gas emissions with a government agency confirming that global warming threatened public health and welfare and was the direct result of human activity.
As world leaders prepared to gather in Copenhagen to discuss climate change, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revealed its findings into a study on the current situation in America.
It concluded that science "overwhelmingly" shows that greenhouse gas concentrations were at "unprecedented levels due to human activity".
Resulting heatwaves in the US could threaten the health of the sick, poor and elderly, the EPA stated, adding that ground-level pollution is linked to asthma and other respiratory conditions.
As such, emissions of harmful greenhouse gases should be regulated under the Clean Air Act, it concluded.
The announcement will put pressure on Congress to act over climate change, an issue on which to date it has dragged its feet, campaigners claim.
"These long-overdue findings cement 2009's place in history as the year when the United States government began addressing the challenge of greenhouse-gas pollution," EPA administrator Lisa Jackson said.
The announcement marks a further move away from Bush-era policy. The previous US administration refused to issue a statement recommending regulation to enforce the capping of harmful gases that could pose a threat to public health.
The EPA findings were also released to add momentum to attempts to reach a consensus on climate change in Copenhagen.
Senator John Kerry, lead author of a climate bill in Washington, said: "This is a clear message to Copenhagen of the Obama administration's commitments to address global climate change." He added: "The message to Congress is crystal clear: Get moving."
Press Association
