If the EPA draft ruling declaring carbon dioxide a pollutant goes through as written, it would regulate emissions only from large industrial sources.
EPA's new take on the "endangerment finding" would be 100 times less strict than the current rule under the Clean Air Act, which calls for facilities emitting more than 250 tons annually of a regulated pollutant to install the "best available" control technologies.
Instead, EPA is proposing to regulate only facilities emitting more than 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year.
The new stance may be a response to vigorous protests by the business community, reports the Wall Street Journal.
For instance, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been angling for the EPA to hold a public hearing on the scientific evidence for man-made climate change. Pundits have dubbed it the "the Scopes monkey trial of the 21st century."
Farmers and ranchers have insisted that their operations not be judged the same as major industrial polluters, as well.
