In a somewhat inevitable move given the 2007 Supreme Court ruling, the EPA has declared that Greenhouse Gas emissions pose a threat to public health and welfare.  In 2007, the Court said that GHG are indeed subject to the Clean Air Act and therefore the EPA has authority to regulate them.  It also said it must regulate unless it could provide scientific basis for not doing so.

While this is only a step along the way to actual regulation, a comment period and rulemaking still need to occur, this represents a significant action towards the regulation of these gases.  Given the response many in Minnesota people have had to something like the Sensible Communities bill, I’d say any regulation dealing with land use is going to take a lot of planners by surprise.