The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has filed an additional request for a formal, on-the-record hearing to debate the evidence behind the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) expected finding that man-made greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare.

"Let me be clear, we are not debating the science behind global warming," said William Kovacs, the U.S. Chamber's senior vice president for Environment, Technology, and Regulatory Affairs.  "We are unconvinced that EPA has demonstrated, as a matter of law, that greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles in the U.S. endanger public health or welfare."

In April, the EPA issued a proposed endangerment finding maintaining that carbon dioxide contributes to global warming and threatens the public's health. If finalized by the EPA, the endangerment finding sets the stage for regulation of greenhouse gases by the agency under the Clean Air Act. Such a move would impact nearly every business in the country, according to Kovacs.

In a supplemental request filed on August 25, the Chamber calls on EPA to conduct a formal on-the-record hearing on the evidence underlying its finding of endangerment. Before the EPA can invoke the Clean Air Act to regulate CO2 emissions from cars, it must first find, as a matter of law, that rising temperatures caused by U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from new motor vehicles endanger U.S. public health and welfare. The Chamber doesn't think the evidence EPA set forth meets the legal criteria to support such a finding.

Kovacs says the EPA has ignored evidence contradicting its conclusions on a wide range of issues, such as the effect higher temperatures will have on net mortality and levels of other pollutants in the atmosphere. "We have reviewed all of the evidence in EPA's endangerment docket and are deeply troubled by the flaws and omissions underlying the proposed endangerment finding. All the Chamber is asking for is transparency in this process. This ruling could ultimately cause a regulatory train wreck with inescapable economic consequences."

Specifically, the Chamber points to reports that the EPA suppressed a study by two members of its staff, stating that the agency relied on outdated studies and that the current state of climate science refutes the proposed endangerment finding. 

Read the supplemental request.