Heritage Foundation says EPA wants to regulate your breath

Ed Feulner of the Heritage Foundation. Image by Rob Bluey via Flickr

Writing in the Indianapolis Star, Heritage Foundation President Ed Feulner implies the EPA plans to regulate human breath if and when it enacts regulation of carbon dioxide pollution:

You may want to think twice before taking your next deep breath. Every time you exhale, you’re supposedly endangering the planet — by contributing to global warming.

The Environmental Protection Agency says global warming poses a “serious threat to public health and safety.” That sets the stage for the EPA to regulate, through the Clean Air Act, almost anything that emits carbon dioxide.

CO2, of course, is a naturally occurring gas. It’s produced whenever a person breathes and, yes, whenever we use any sort of fossil fuel. Driving a car, mowing a lawn, boiling a cup of water, even flipping on a light switch (thus using electricity generated in CO2-emitting power plants) produces carbon dioxide.

via The Indianapolis Star.

The EPA will regulate “almost anything” that emits carbon dioxide? Not really. Under the Clean Air Act, a source would have to emit 250 tons of carbon dioxide to face regulation, although that number would likely be revised to permit exceptions for schools, hospitals, and other large facilities. Maybe Mr. Feulner emits 250 tons of carbon dioxide, but most of us don’t.

Feulner also takes a shot at the American Clean Energy and Security Act in his editorial, repeating the Republican Party line that it will increase energy costs, but Feulner doesn’t seem to fathom the relationship between the Climate Bill and EPA regulation of CO2. If one happens, the other doesn’t.