i do not need the epa. and by the way, young lady, you have learned your talking points pretty well. what are you going to do about china and russia? china is opening a coal plant once a week and that is pollution according to you. guest: the caller makes an interesting point about china and russia. china has become the number one polluter in the country and is driving its economy forward by, indeed, its huge investment in coal-fired plants. it is very difficult for the administration. the one of the reasons why these regulations are so difficult politically is the international negotiations, the international effort on the ground. the united nations has been trying unsuccessfully for a number of years to come up with a new coloma -- global climate pact in which the world's biggest economies, commit to putting their carbon emissions. it is very difficult politically within the u.s. to commit to any kind of legislation or policy or law that would cut back on the u.s. climate the missions and potentially cons

i do believe that the epa is a threat to america.t epa had a purpose in 1970 when it was begun. in 1970-- when it was begun. and when it was begun, there was smart and it was tangible and you could see it and smell it. and they finally got rid of it. i think it is now just a bunch of people that i do not want to see. guest: the caller raises a point about the nature of pollution and the political will to go after it. one of the great difficulties that the administration has had in trying to create political will to address the issues of global warming and greenhouse gases is that online small, you cannot see it. you cannot smell it. it does not really affect your day- >> you know when you have smog you can immediately see and smell and experience these public health problems whereas, you know, the broader greenhouse gas issue, we may not experience the tangible effect of that for another 50 to 100 years. it's very difficult, i think, for a lot of people to wrap their heads around what this pollutant is and what it does and why there

the epa has to enforce the law. you do not delay enforcement of the law because you have a bunch of polluters and industries and calling you asking you to delay it. on every delay means more harm to the environment. we have to figure out how to get the regulations to be as meaningful as possible. at the same time, we need to adopt additional legislation. if we did not act legislatively, we're doing nothing but polluting the planet and causing more environmental problems. >> as someone who has conducted oversight of past administrations, what advice do you have for the white house as they begin a new era of divided government and they're facing a new round of oversight? >> i strongly believe in oversight. it is as important as legislation and maybe even more so. legitimate oversight is warranted and needed. i told people in the administration that they ought to make sure they cross their t's and dot their eyes and do everything properly. that's what we expect from them. the real question is whether the republicans wi

>> epa needs to speak to that, right? you don't want me to do it because i'm not an md like you. i'm an engineer by training. what we owe the american people is a final risk assessment for dioxin. >> since then, the epa did announce standards for dioxin in the soil. still nothing for airborne dioxin. the agency now promises a draft assessment by the end of 2010. some companies aren't waiting. computer giant hewlett-packard, kaeiser permanente, office depot, office max, nike, ford, apple, all of them using less polly vinyl chloride. that's right. no pvc is the new ipad, in the long term, less pvc waste to burn. all in all, it could mean less dioxin in the environment. back in mossville, plants are still making millions of pounds of vinyl chloride every year. wilma subra says chemical industry lobbyists in louisiana have talked state lawmakers out of passing any dioxin standards. i mean, how can this happen? >> because their permit levels don't set a dioxin limit. >> that sound kind of, like, someone is not doing their job. if you're convinced it's so toxic, and i have heard that.

>> on the epa front? we believe as i mentioned earlier should be the prerogative of elected officials to determine greenhouse gas regulation. there are a variety of approaches out there today. we will support the means necessary to make sure that congress ultimately makes that decision. the clean air act was never designed to regulate greenhouse gases. the epa in our view has overstepped its bounds in attempting to go much further than even the clean air act allows them to go in regulating the changing greenhouse gas regulations. so again, we believe we need to take it back to the congress. when each of have the conversation there and let the congress, the elected body ultimately decide the impact of such a far-reaching policy. greenhouse gas regulation has the potential to be one of the most far-reaching impactful policies that were adopted by the united states congress. it impacts everything we do, all economic activity, all energy development and energy policy. surely something of that significance sho

>> on the epa front?we mentioned earlier issued he elected officials to determine greenhouse gas regulation. there's a variety of approaches out there today. we will support the means necessary to make sure that congress ultimately makes that decision. the clean air act was never designed to regulate greenhouse gases. the epa in our view has overstepped its bounds in attempting to go much further than the clean air act allows them to go in regulating the changing greenhouse gas regulation. so again, we believe we need to take it back to the congress. we need to have the conversation they are about the congress, the elect a body ultimately decide the impact of such a far-reaching policy. greenhouse gas regulation has the potential to be one of the most far reaching impact of that were adopted by the united states congress. it impacts everything we do, all economic tv, all energy development in energy policy. surely something of that significance should be decided in determined by those elected to legislate

talks on the epa with australia have been stalled since april. but are scheduled to resume in february. japan also wants to start negotiations with the european union and the first half of the year. japan will send officials to the u.s. in january to gather information about the transpacific partnership or tpp. the government will decide whether to join negotiations on the tariff abolishing pact as early as this summer. prime minister naoto kan hopes to make 2011 the start of an era to "open up japan" in his new year's statement on saturday. but agriculture and fisheries cooperative strongly opposed japan joining epas and the tpp saying the pacts will bring about the collapse of japan's farming and fishing industries. the u.s. and the eu want japan to reduce nontariff barriers including auto safety standards and regulations on the approval of medical devices. >>> japan is a country often hit by earthquakes. this year the government will draw up plans to deal with three huge quakes that may hit the country at the same time. the so-called tokai, to

the epa is utilizing the authority enacted decades ago. the clean air act's basic architecture was enacted in 1970 and the act has not been significantly modified since 1990. the greenhouse gas regulation warranted a decision that is made by congress. nonexecutive agency act alone. the reins act offers an mechanism for disciplining federal regulatory agencies, enhancing congressional accountability for federal regulatory decisions requiring congressional approval for economically significant rules taking effect and congress takes responsibility for that handful of regulations usually several dozen. then impose major costs and hopefully provide major economic benefits. adopting an expedited legislative process like that used to trade authority insurers transparency and prevents a congressional review process from unduly delaying these. such an approach can enhance political accountability without sacrificing the attendees and the expertise and specialization. require regulations to be approved by a joint resolution presented to the presiden

. >> i wanted to ask you guys to talk about the recommendations you made with regard to epa. it seems after an event happened. was there any sense of given them a more up front role rather than leaving everything after the incident? >> e va has a national response center and has a role in preparing for any response. we believe there are structural changes that need to be done with respect to the area wide councils, and those are detailed in the report. one of the real surprises here, to me, is having overseen much of the response to exxon valdez in 1989, the status of the dispersant question was still unresolved. i did not permit the dispersant to be in many of the sensitive areas because of fear that getting into the water column will contaminate the fish. remarkable to me that we finally have a spill, and they are predictable, that we then have e argument about whether it is toxic? does it persist in the vironment? does it depend how deep it is injected or how much is? we make strong recommendations that epa seriously begin to test toxics, the toxicity of dispersants and th

to epa danger the public's health or safety? >> no. that section of the clean air act was intended to give epa the authority to regulate when substances that were at the time that bill was passed not known to the problematic for the health become known to them, but at the time, people knew of carbon dioxide, and i would recommend you check with john who was the author of it. they did not intend for that provision of the clean air act to give authority for epa to regulate carbon dioxide. they talked about it in other parts of the bill, decided not to give that authority. the language you cited i think is also a really important point for another issue that is very key to this whole debate, and that is how specific should congress be when it delegates the legislative authority to the regulatory agencies, and there's always been a debate back and forth about whether general lang like the language you cited is appropriate. the consensus is that it has been and the clean air acts and the language cited there, but i would point to you

epa case. do you think they're going to push the regulatory lever far enough or whether the republicans are going to try to push back on that? >> yeah. well, that's sort of a fundamental question we're asking ourselves looking at the next two years. the president does have in place an activist epa administrator and a lot of people around him who want him to do just that, to use the epa's regulatory power and that supreme court decision to push ahead and, in effect, circumventing congress and take on greenhouse gases. and i think obama is amenable to doing that, but one thing about obama is that to some extent he's somewhat of a mystery as to how far he will go. not only on the epa issue and regulation, but just in confronting the republicans and so on. this idea of him using regulation and using the powers of the executive to get things done is something they're debating actively at the white house because of the problems they feel they're going to have in congress. so you're going to see a lot

just as it is important work of epa work.he water challenges today highlight concerns throughout our society, growing populations, urbanization, new chemicals in our products and environment and in our bodies and adaptation to climate change. our waters face on conventional pollutants. we have only recently had designed to measure some of these pollutants. they are also affected by what is not commonly thought of in terms of sources of pollution like storm water runoff. like storm water runoff. we

. >> and epa being asked to weigh in on dangerous chchchchchchchchchchchchchchchch >> closed captioning brought to you by mancini sleepworld. >>> back to our top story now that. is a rot yotic device, aapparently pipe bomb as long interstate 680 this afternoon. it's affordable storage facility. they got a tip about illegal drugs and explosives inside of the unit z they clogsed the highway there. southbound 680 near highway 4. and there is sky 7 over this while this bomb critter is taking a look at that. i'm sure there is a more formal name for that. they want to make sure no people are getting close to that. we understand two people have been arrested so far. >> we'll keep updating that as need be. let's move on now to public education. closing achiefment gap in our schools is a critical challenge as you know. one oakland school has done it well and received an ward for efforts. and why it is so successful. >> students celebrated today, parents and teachers shared in the success of the school. and named one two of in california to win national title win distinguished school award. prize

in this particular case you have the state of california, you have the region nine, epa, so you have a regulator, san francisco ucuc. all contributing to funds offered by the california commission. so i'd like to suggest that we, as a group here, recognize that those opportunities are out there and that we leverage those opportunitys for the sake of reducing the carbon footprint and if we do that, these are near turn gains we can do as we get to the long-term as far as uncertainties and hydrological issues that might take a longer time to resolve. >> i just want to come back down a little bit to something a bit on the specific side and add to specific points. chuck and i spent some time yesterday talking about infrastructure and knowing it and knowing where your pipes are and what they can and can't do. yesterday as a waist water person listening to this, i'm thinking pipes and pumps which i'm sure your thinking too but your talking,dams, and canals and part of that is understanding each others language but what i want to add is there's a tremendous amount of coordination and researc

the epa campaign against carbon.ion commission drive to regulate the internet and allocate spectrum. i only mention these examples because they are widely recognized and the fact of the matter is that fine tuning is needed across the entire regulatory horizon. our current regulatory regime has deep historic roots. since the days of the new deal and especially during the 60's and 70's congress has delegated more and more of its legislative authority to the federal agencies. this has been done through broad and vaguely stated laws that allow congress to claim credit for addressing problems but leaving it to the various agencies to fill in the crucial details deregulations. the final risk of the wrong decision thus falls on the agencies and, of course, the economy and america's job creators. congress too often escapes but responsibility and accountability. the republican majority that came to congress in 1994 attempted to address this problem through the congressional review act. that act, you may recall them give the c

what role is the epa going to play? >> as you have heard here today, increased reserves in the united states are a true american success story. it has occurred over the past decade. there are those who would like to regulate it differently than the industry would. hydraulic fracturing is regulated at the state level. we support the federal regulation of it. it is the appropriate place to regulate it. the epa is currently doing a study that try to conclude that it is --clued -- tried to conclude if there was scientific evidence about hydraulic fract uring. epa should conclude their study. we are working with individual texas, pennsylvania, west virginia. it is appropriate to regulate that at the local level. we are working with local regulators to achieve that. >> you mentioned that your initial concern with congress was speeding up the permitting process. how do you see influencing that? >> we have a continental shelf development issue. we have to increase the dialogue with the new congress and the administration to con

we will also continue our legal and legislative efforts to stop the epa from misapplying environmental law in order to unilaterally regulate greenhouse gas. the chamber will support appropriate bipartisan legislation to delay or stop the epa and return the important climate change issues to the purview of the congress of the united states where it belongs. beyond greenhouse gases, epa's regulatory agenda lists 342 rule makes in various stages of development and completion. of these, 30 are deemed economically significant. each has a cause to our -- each has a cost to our economy of more than $100 million. how will the chamber challenge this vast array of regulatory activities across our government? we will use a range of tools depending on the circumstances, yet the time has come to also reform this regulatory process itself, to restore some badly needed balance and accountability to the system. this could be done by giving congress the right to vote up or down on major rules before they take affect, and by strengthening the burden of proof that all the regulatory agencies would have t

. @ >>> the bay area is about to become the first in the nation to implement tough new epa requirements on cement plants. permit in couperr knit for the tino will be the first to require a significant reduction in mercury emissions. karina rusk has the latest chapter in the long running controversy. >> reporter: starting in september of 2013, epa is requiring cement plants nationwide to significantly reduce mercury emissions. the bay area air quality management district is about to release its proposed operating permit for lehigh in cooper tino. the first in were to rate the mercury reduction requirements. >> the conditions at the plant in terms of air emissions should certainly be improving as we move forward. >> lives a mile from the plant and welcomes the crackdown but is worried two lawsuits already generated by the cement industry and republican led congress could block implementation. >> we are concerned that before the epa restrictions go into edfect they will be overturned and we will be back to square one. >> reporter: lehigh says it is ready to comply and will make plant a top

or with the epa is trying to do we would be honored and pleased to participate. bruce may want to say a word or two about why we are pushing so hard on what the epa is doing be on the fact we don't think they have the authority to do it. >> we don't believe the clean air act is designed to regulate the greenhouse gas emissions. we don't think this is compatible. second, to correct the record you should know since the bush administration the u.s. chamber has called for comprehensive climate change legislation from congress rather than the unilateral rulemaking by the epa. we think the rule making is different than what other agencies need and have to go through. we think it's necessary that we tackle this and think there's going to be movement. i would agree we are not going to see a massive comprehensive climate change bill. we are going to see pieces of legislation however that help get you to words a reduction in greenhouse gases. bingaman has a bill on the renewable portfolio side of the ledger in our world that should include nuclear to be part of it and if i

or with the epa is trying to do we would be honored and pleased to participate. bruce may want to say a word or two about why we are pushing so hard on what the epa is doing be on the fact we don't think they have the authority to do it. >> we don't believe the clean air act is designed to regulate the greenhouse gas emissions. we don't think this is compatible. second, to correct the record you should know since the bush administration the u.s. chamber has called for comprehensive climate change legislation from congress rather than the unilateral rulemaking by the epa. we think the rule making is different than what other agencies need and have to go through. we think it's necessary that we tackle this and think there's going to be movement. i would agree we are not going to see a massive comprehensive climate change bill. we are going to see pieces of legislation however that help get you to words a reduction in greenhouse gases. bingaman has a bill on the renewable portfolio side of the ledger in our world that should include nuclear to be part of it and if i

just as it is important work of epa work. the water challenges today highlight concerns throughout our society, growing populations, urbanization, new chemicals in our products and environment and in our bodies and adaptation to climate change. our waters face on conventional pollutants. we have only recently had designed to measure some of these pollutants. they are also affected by what is not commonly thought of in terms of sources of pollution like storm water runoff. we have looked at storm water when rains in the past. as waste water. had we get this water out of the way? -- how do we get this water out of the way? back in the costly proposition. many of your cities are struggling to maintain their current infrastructure. in an effort that cost upwards of $30 billion per year in capital investments nationwide. when you include the operating funds, cities spend up to $100 billion per year on water and wastewater services and infrastructure. despite this price tag, we still love problems. we still end up losing almost 7 b

to epa danger the public's health or safety? >> no. that section of the clean air act was intended to give epa the authority to regulate when substances that were at the time that bill was passed not known to the problematic for the health become known to them, but at the time, people knew of carbon dioxide, and i would recommend you check with john who was the author of it. they did not intend for that provision of the clean air act to give authority for epa to regulate carbon dioxide. they talked about it in other parts of the bill, decided not to give that authority. the language you cited i think is also a really important point for another issue that is very key to this whole debate, and that is how specific should congress be when it delegates the legislative authority to the regulatory agencies, and there's always been a debate back and forth about whether general lang like the language you cited is appropriate. the consensus is that it has been and the clean air acts and the language cited there, but i would point to you

the epa is just like any other agency, it needs appropriations. if the administrator of the environmental protection agency, ms. jackson, is going to implement a regulatory program effecting power producers and regulate portions of their activity, she needs money. doesn't she? and so if you were to have this legislative proposal go down, it might be important to think about ultimately a strategy that in an appropriations bill said no funds in this act shall be able to the administrator of epa to carry out any activity related to. what's that called, by the way? anybody know what's that called? that's a rider, isn't it? that's a rider. that's a limitation. a limitation rider. that you might put on appropriation bill or some other budget or some other budget bill. now how about you -- how about you guys that are pushing this bill? why would you care about the appropriations committee? this is a tricky question. well, you might want to be sure that didn't happen; right? you might want to be sure that you were engaged with your friends on the appropri

republican governors who won in the midterm elections to say what is this law, health care, what is epaegulations? what is net neutrality? what are all these things having an effect in your state on jobs and if they get a negative reaction then we need action and they'll say here is the republican course. it's all going to be framed around jobs. >> i disagree with amy on the message of the election. i don't think it was going to washington and work together and get things done, go to washington and stop it. put sand in the gear, to which end another person, people have not heard of that they're about to hear of is senator tom udall, a freshman from new mexico who will lead the attempt to change the senate rules to make a filibuster less effective to make the senate work quicker. now, those of us who believe that quickness in government is not a good thing object to that but it will be the first big fight of this congress. >> explain that a little bit more, because there are obviously in op-ed page as cross the country we see today and saw yesterday attempts to argue that the filibuster

epa to seize control about moving forward with the recommendation to lower the target level. we have a target level of slightly less [unintelligible] they were recommending moving it down to something like .7 parts per million. there is no regulatory process that would drive that, but we are looking at this information. we will consider the pros and cons of doing it. it will be a very minor change. >> there is a range of .7 to 1.2. >> that is the current range. they are pushing the lower end of that hai believe. commissioner caen: thank you for the information. president vietor: what did you see the current amount is? >> the target is not exact, but slightly less than 1 part per million. president vietor: thank you. commissioner caen: you will not believe me when i bring this up. but when we run off on our pursuit of bottled water, i recalled that was something that we could not do certain things. i thought it might be an interesting opportunity to go back and look at this with america's cup coming here. i thought it would be a good way of promoting san francisco as well as o

. >> i am with "inside epa." talk about the recommendations for the epa. new response plans for federal agencies, was there any discussion of giving them a more robust upfront role rather than leaving everything would then doi? >> it has a national response center. it is a central role in research -- and organizing for any response. there are instructional changes that need to be made with the area wide council and so forth. those of detail than the report. one of the real surprises here is that having overseen much of the response to exxon valdez in 1989 in prince william sound, the status of the dispersant question was still unresolved. i did not permit dispersants to being used in many sensitive areas around the fish hatcheries and prince william sound because of fear of getting into the water column would have contaminated fish. remarkable to me that we finally have spills. they are predictable, that will happen from time to time -- and we get into the conversation, is it toxic, are they safe the user? does a persist in the environment? does it depend

i am not insisting that the courts and validate the epa, etc., etc.m saying that the epa is a constitutional anomaly, etcetera, etcetera, but i did not suggest it is the job of the courts to throw it out. far from it. this is a task for congress. this is a task for law. so please do not in feud -- >> forgive me for misunderstanding. >> i would consider that also a kind of judicial activism, relying upon the courts to do something which is the job of the political branches to do responsibly with the votes to which they can be held accountable. >> so there are things like the epa that you think violate the constitution that courts should couple because it is up to congress to enforce? >> these things were passed by congress. perhaps when they were first enacted, they may have very well said, look, there is no basis for this, but the epa has been around for well over a generation. for the court to all of a sudden to say, well, no, you cannot have this at all, it is another thing for the court to stand by as the epa tries to regulate the blow of the asian

you don't think that language implies there could be a problem that someone in the epa could interpret to endanger public health or safety? >> that section of the clean air act is intended to give epa the authority to regulate when substances that were at the time the bill was passed were not known to be problematic become known to them. at the time people knew of carbon dioxide. i recommend you check with don dingell, the author of it. we should not intend that provision of the clean air act to give up authority for the epa to regulate carbon dioxide. the language used cited which is an important point for other issues that is key to this debate and that is how specific should congress be when it delegates the legislative authority to the regulatory agencies? there has always been a debate back and forth with her general language like the languagehethe language like the language you cited is appropriate? a point you to an article from my testimony by professor at boston university, mr. lawson, e points out if you have the goodness act that said to the regulatory agency promulgate rule

the epa will make a decision on whether criminal activity played a role. >>> it's san francisco's several sit by law working? it was hard pressed to see anyone lounging on the sidewalk. business owners there say they are seeing a difference even though the city won't start enforcing the new ordnance until next month. the civil sidewalks law went into effect on december 17th and makes it illegal to sit or lie on a public sidewalk between 7:00 and 11:00 p.m.. >>> the federal government today released new nutritional guidelines that could change the taste of your food. the new standards focus on strategies to reduce obesity. sodium. nearly half are being asked to cut down to half a teaspoon. even people that don't make a conscious effort to cut back may get less sodium. >> now we are saying let's decrease the sodium in the food. so what we will find is products made with less salt. >> the guidelines were last changed in 2005. that's when product makers were required to list transfat on food labels. something many people have not heard of before. >>> blood donors may get a generous reward. th

rupert grim and epa watson, known from the "harry potter" movies haven't even kissed yet, but $6.3 billiond them a technical win over more grown-up pairings like leonardo decap row and kate winslet in titanic. >> now i have to go see the song of no one. if you were walking out of the theater, i need to know how bad this movie is. >> are you really going to waste, like, $14.50 to come out on this movie? >> maybe it will come out on video. >> sounds like it will be soon. >>> a few grandmothers had to show a few young fellows they had game. the granny globe-trotters had a face-off with the formidable globe when they stopped by practice. %ur(s& business on the court playing in two senior olympic games and win aing state championship, but they took it easy on special k. and glinda, showing their moves and making it a fun day for everyone involved. >>> i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. >>> why so serious? because these amateur actors hope to land a role in the upcoming batman live in london. lining two city blocks, the superhero

he conct his address by wishing wiing the very best to this successor, jerry brown and his wife, epa. one thing he did not mention is what he plans to do now his term up. there's been talk of schwarzenegger wking for the obama administration or behind the camera in hollywood. >> alan: le word from the capitol today that the governor has commuted the sentence of esteban nunez, the son of fabban nunez, nunez pleaded guilty to volunteer tear manslauter, but the governor called it excessti and reduced the ntence phone years. ter being denied entry into a fraternity party in snag state, nunez and others attacked a group of men. one man was stabbed to death. his family asd the judge for the maxim sentence, and he agreed. the govern's shortening the sentence comes hours before he leaves office. >>> governor-elect jerry jerry n will be sworp in tomorrow at :00 a.m. he afountioned members of the blic coul request tickets at his facebook page. >> lieutenant governor elect gavin newsom will be in sacramento to attend the sweari in ceremony for brown an other constitutional officers but won't be

the epa has a zero tolerance policy for asbestosis and if it was up to them, there would be no digging in the ground. i would like to have something to monitor units. thank you. >> i am a worker honor at a remote retreat and i have been there for 18 years. we are a local and homegrown business. we have been around for 30 years. i am concerned about wholefoods and how this will affect local businesses. i have asked why your of not asked a local business to go in there. they are a union busting chain. local businesses, some seem to be able to get the upper hand here. you could use a lot of imagination. i am sure they would love the opportunity to expand. many home grown businesses can go in there. as i have said, they have been around for 35 years. i want the supervisors and the commissioners to think again what this is you are going to put in there and explore other options. there is a committee put together. i feel like we have been disrespected and businesses who are across the street, down the street, will also be affected. please, please, reconsider and also reconsider the lack of m

. >>> apple computer hits a huge milestone with its epa app store. >>> president obama putting the finishing touches on his state of the union address. >> leigh: hi there. i'm. >> leigh: clear skies right now, 60 is the current temperature. and take a look ahead to see if [ female announcer ] these are the crescents you love on a holiday. and these are the ones you'll love on a friday. pillsbury crescent pizza pockets. with just a few ingredients, you have an easy to make dinner. they're crescents for the other 364. try them tonight. than listening there'to our favorite songs. the's nothing we love more than listening to our favorite songs. but our favorite thing is eating totino's pizza rolls. but our favorite thing is eating totino's pizza rolls. ♪ we're the kids in america ♪ oh, oh, oh >> closed captioning brought to >> closed captioning brought to >> alan: president obama is spending the weekend putting the fishing touches on this state of the union speech. here's more from washington. >> i'm not finished yet. still working on it. >> reporter: a sneak peek, and the state of the union is