Bush Won't Limit Power Plant Co2 Emissions

WASHINGTON, VA -- -

WASHINGTON, VA -- The White House has informed Congress that it will not limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants that environmentalists have said are a major contributor to global warming. "I do not believe ... that the government should impose on power plants mandatory emissions reductions for carbon dioxide, which is not a pollutant under the Clean Air Act," Bush wrote congressional Republicans Tuesday. Environmentalists marked the decision as a major setback for the environment that also reveals the true colors of a White House that of late, has come off as relatively pro-environment. "So much for (Bush) being good on the environment," one environmental lobbyist quipped. The White House and EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman had signaled that such regulatory action might be in the wings in order to stave off global warming. But in his letter to congressional Republicans Tuesday, Bush cited the "incomplete state of scientific knowledge of the causes of, and solutions to, global climate change and the lack of commercially available technologies for removing and storing carbon dioxide." Bush sent the letter to a group of four Republican Senators who had asked Bush on March 6 to clarify his position on carbon dioxide emissions on the heels of comments from Whitman and others in the administration. "We were hearing a lot of things circulating around about these types of issues," Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel said. Hagel, Alaska Sen. Frank Murkowski, Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, and Idaho Sen. Larry Craig originally queried Bush on the issue in a March 6 letter. Republicans said Tuesday they were concerned that regulating carbon dioxide might exacerbate an energy crisis. "We are facing one of the most immediate energy challenges of our time," Hagel said. "Coal generates more than half of America's electricity supply," Bush warned. "We must be very careful not to take actions that could harm consumers."