A Petition to Phase Out Green House Gas Emissions

Join Dr. James Hansen, Dan Galpern, Donn Viviani and other members of the Climate Protection & Restoration Initiative team as they hold a press briefing to inform and answer questions regarding their petition to phase out greenhouse gas emissions. They are joined by two members of the press and the Climate Emergency Forum.

This video was recorded on June 10th, 2022, and published on June 19th, 2022.

Some of the topics discussed:

• The petition is to the Environmental Protection Agency under the Toxic Substances Control Act, abbreviated TSCA or TOSCA, and other U.S. Federal law. It demands a phaseout of certain chemical substances and mixtures which are greenhouse gas emissions including legacy greenhouse gas emissions. The petitioners note these emissions are presenting a risk of injury to health or the environment and are therefore in conflict with section 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act. The petition was filed at EPA’s location in Washington D.C. on Thursday June 16th.
• TOSCA was used in 1978 for a similar purpose with respect to CFCs in 1978.
• The submission of the petition on Thursday June 16th, 2022 kicked off a 90-day window in which people and organizations have the opportunity to submit public comments.
• Whether the recent SCOTUS case of West Virginia v. EPA has any influence on the petition.
• TOSCA was reauthorized with bipartisan support from Congress in 2016 and how risks can be assessed without regard to monetary cost.
• The risks at stake for health and the environment.
• Some historical context is provided on EPA’s knowledge of the Climate Emergency and the need to act.
• A discussion about the many sources of emissions and the need to regulate.
• EPA’s strong preference for market based solutions where producers and consumers pay the full cost to society of their emissions.
• and more. . .

Links:

• Climate Protection & Restoration Initiative

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

• Summary of the Toxic Substances Control Act

• Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions - Earth Institute - Columbia University

• Summary of the Clean Air Act

• TOPN: Independent Offices Appropriation Act, 1956

• CFCs

• TCSA Section 21: Assessing and Managing Chemicals under TSCA

• West Virginia versus EPA

• Clean Power Plan

• Beyond West Virginia v. EPA

• Major Questions About the Major Questions Doctrine

• TCSA Section 6: Import/Export Requirements for Specific Chemicals

• Who has contributed most to global CO2 emissions?

• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

• Svante Arrhenius

• International Monetary Fund - Carbon Pricing

• What is a CAFO?

• AB 32 Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006

Special Guests:

• Dr. James Hansen - Program Director for the Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions, Earth Institute, Columbia University.

• Dan Galpern - Attorney at Law, Legal and policy adviser to climate scientist James Hansen.

• Don Viviani - 35 year EPA Veteran, PHD Organic Chemistry.

• Rick Heede - Co-Director of the Climate Accountability Institute.

• John Birks - Professor Emeritus Atmospheric Chemistry, University of Colorado.

• Lise Van Susteren - Physician, Psychiatrist and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry in Washington D.C.

Press:

• Dawn Reeves - Senior Correspondent, Inside EPA at Inside Washington Publishers.

• Frank Holland - Special Correspondent for the San Francisco Examiner

Regular Panelists:

• Paul Beckwith - Climate Systems Scientist. Professor at the University of Ottawa’s Paleoclimatology Laboratory as well as at Carleton University

• Regina Valdez - Program Director, Climate Reality Project, NYC. GreenFaith Fellow and LEED Green Associate

Video Production:

• Charles Gregoire - Climate Reality Leader, Electrical Engineer, Webmaster and IT prime for FacingFuture.Earth and the Climate Emergency Forum

• Heidi Brault - Climate Reality Leader, BA(Psychology), Library & Information Technician Diploma - Video production and website assistant - Organizer and convener, Metadata technician, COP26 Team Lead for FacingFuture.Earth and the Climate Emergency Forum.

Attributions:

Background Music:

• Title: Through the City II
• Author: Crowander
• Source: Free Music Archive
• License: BY-NC 4.0

Image and Video:

• Image and Video Attributions