Just days after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) refused to regulate the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming, the agency issued a report warning that the nation faces “substantial” threats to human health from climate change.
The report by the Bush administration’s Climate Change Science Program forecast that rising global temperatures will mean that the U.S. will face more powerful hurricanes, diminishing supplies of fresh water in the West because of decreased mountain snow pack, increased spread of diseases, and the strong likelihood that more people — especially the elderly and the poor — will die in future heat waves. The EPA’s report is notable because it comes from an administration that long denied the link between human activity and climate change yet has consistently blocked efforts to regulate greenhouse gases. Last week, under pressure from senior members of the Bush administration, EPA officials acknowledged that they do not plan to regulate greenhouse gases under the federal Clean Air Act.
Mixed Signals from the EPA: Dire Climate Warnings, Yet No Action
More From E360
-
INTERVIEW
Marina Silva on Brazil’s Fight to Turn the Tide on Deforestation
-
Solutions
Solomon Islands Tribes Sell Carbon Credits, Not Their Trees
-
INTERVIEW
With Sea Turtles in Peril, a Call for New Strategies to Save Them
-
RIVERS
Jared Kushner Has Big Plans for Delta of Europe’s Last Wild River
-
Energy
A Nuclear Power Revival Is Sparking a Surge in Uranium Mining
-
OPINION
Despite Official Vote, the Evidence of the Anthropocene Is Clear
-
INTERVIEW
At 11,500 Feet, a ‘Climate Fast’ to Save the Melting Himalaya
-
Oceans
Octopuses Are Highly Intelligent. Should They Be Farmed for Food?
-
Climate
Nations Are Undercounting Emissions, Putting UN Goals at Risk
-
Solutions
As Carbon Air Capture Ramps Up, Major Hurdles Remain
-
ANALYSIS
How China Became the World’s Leader on Renewable Energy
-
Biodiversity
As Flooding Increases on the Mississippi, Forests Are Drowning