The Obama Administration is reviewing a finding by the Environmental Protection Agency that carbon dioxide emissions — and associated impact on climate — are a danger to public health, reports the Associated Press.

The move is the first step towards regulating CO2 and other greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. The agency’s finding was send to the White House office of Management and Budget Friday.

In 2007 the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA must review whether greenhouse gases endanger public health or welfare. If they are found to be a threat then they must be regulated.

The United States is the world’s second largest greenhouse gas emitter after China.

The Obama Administration has said it favors a cap-and-trade system for limiting greenhouse gas emissions.

A climate bubble forming?



Global CO2 emissions from fossil fuel use, 1750-2007

A history of bubbles