Murky manoeuvre
nowadays the us consistently steers clear of global warming mitigation measures. In one such move, the us Environmental Protection Agency (epa) rejected a petition seeking to regulate greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions from motor vehicles under the Clean Air Act (caa). The August 28 decision follows a controversial amendment to the same legislation, exempting several old industrial units from installing pollution control equipment when upgrading or modifying their operations (see box: Escape route).
The International Center for Technology Assessment (icta), a non-profit organisation, along with other bodies, had petitioned the epa on October 20, 1999. They contended that the epa should monitor and control emission of carbon dioxide (co2), methane, nitrous oxide and hydrofluorocarbons from new motor vehicles and engines.
The plea pointed out that these emissions were contributing considerably to global climate change, and that a 1998 memorandum of the epa (