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EPA Chief Wants Congress to Opine Whether CO2 Is a Pollutant

Scott Pruitt, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new chief, tells CNBC that Congress should say whether it believes carbon dioxide is a pollutant that should be regulated.
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Scott Pruitt, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new chief, tells CNBC that Congress should say whether it believes carbon dioxide is a pollutant that should be regulated.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that CO2 and other greenhouse gases are pollutants that can be regulated by EPA under the Clean Air Act. The agency enacted limits on six gases, including CO2, two years later.

If Congress disagrees with the Supreme Court, it could modify the Clean Air Act to specifically prohibit EPA from setting limits on CO2.

When Pruitt was attorney general of Oklahoma, he argued against the Supreme Court ruling on behalf of the oil-producing state. He tells CNBC he doesn’t believe human activity is “a primary contributor to the global warming that we see.”

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