when you and i were at the epa, a lot of the activity around the environment was squarely with the epa and it still is. but these environmental challenges really cut across many agencies and the many things that the federal government does. so for example early on we saw this working at the epa when you were there. the department of housing and urban development together working with the community of sustainability within the community. how do you think about transportation in a more sustainable way and these agencies came together, the secretaries came together and said let's institutionalize a way of touche rising youth are part of that. we are going to travel around the country and people are so excited about it. and really what they are excited about is they had all the agencies at the table with their communities with the support of these agencies and it is a tremendous success in something that will continue. but i think that it highlights the nature of environmental challenges that take care of this across the board. >> one of the things we were able to do together when i was at

that ties the epa in knots and takes away is authority. the chemical spill in west virginia is an illustration of why we need to strengthen the bill. that in myto say view, this says it all to me. the last thing i want to do is give people the illusion of protection and that is why as we , this particular spill should give us a lot more urgency to get that right and not pass a bill that is a phony deal. i feel very strongly about it. with what youen throughut your ability .our office you deal with small businesses. you license them? you create a database? >> we register businesses and corporations and llc's? they file an annual report. authorities -- what i thought you heard you say -- what i thought i heard you say it -- it is under the jurisdiction of the dep. for added transparency they need to have that. as i have said, we have a wonderful database. the more information that you put into it, the better it is for the public to be able to see. that is one step that i am looking at as a result of this crisis. >> we have 80,000 chemicals ou

the epa does have authority to regulate moving sources like cars. but epa has orders in place for three years now saying if new plants are built or construction modifications are paid, they have to be modified so they don't emit too much. well, the states and some of the energy groups say that these rules are cumbersome and out of bounds in enforce being them. we heard the arguments today, and it was interesting, both sides of the court had criticisms, more liberal members confident elana kagan and sonia soto mayor. shouldn't you defer to the agency that has the authority, the epa, and let the epa handle all that? on the other hand we heard the more conservative members of the bench, they, conservatives were pushing back and asking and pressuring them as to why the epa would essentially push further than congress in enacting regulations. >> so libby does this help or hurt the white house's efforts to limit greenhouse gases? >> we'll see, at this point it's too soon to tell really which way it might fall. it really has over narrow part of what epa doe

but the epa says that drinking water is not affected by the tce.enny siegel would like to see more testing in neighborhoods located farther away just to make sure that the tce hasn't moved there and that there aren't more hot spots. meantime, residents like the garcias are left with a lot of questions but so far few concrete answers. we will stay on this story. >> we know you will. thank you, steven. good analysis. if you have a tip for our investigative unit give us a call or send us and e-mail directly. >>> new tonight at 11:00, risky business. it has been a deadly year in downtown san jose with two killings this month. that violence has some people on edge but is it not keeping new businesses from setting up shop downtown. what are the owners saying? >> farmers union, nick the greek and others are concerned about the safety of this area. nick the greek will open in a couple days and there are concerns about safety in this area. in the six months since this cafe has opened, business has been fantastic. but three recent stabbings in the downtown a

so that dialogue with the utilities and the states are incredibly important and i think that the epa is looking for how do we incorporate it and think about how the two of these are gone and how we encourage the energy efficiency as a way to meeting the carbon pollution reduction so it's an important discussion that they are having right now and they are making good progress. there is to b be a lot of excitg stuff coming out of the epa and we will have plenty of opportunities to weigh in on. but this is a very major undertaking and that the eta will do a great job. >> one of the things i thought you do early on and you demonstrated incredible leadership and commitment was on the individual agency. can you talk a little bit about them? how much the federal government, not the private sector but the federal agencies on the agency basis could reduce their energy. again it never got i think the attention that it deserved but it is quite significant. >> that is an area where the american people should feel good that they are government is doing a lot to reduce its environmental footprint.

. >> this is affecting tri and economic development and the politics of policy, even the epa is critical of handling the pollution crisis and why the state senate rejected a bill that maybe could have done something about it. you can interact with our show from your smart phone or tablet. we have an app for that. check this out. >> share your thoughts during the live show, disagree with a guest, great, tell us. get the app content and receive the quizzes and the information. you can be the third co-host. vote, tweet, record and we'll feature them on air. use the app and drive the discussions on live tv, this is putting you in the control room. download it now. and use it with every live stream show. >> i'm joie chen, i'm the host of america tonight, we're revolutionary because we're going back to doing best of storytelling. we have an ouportunity to really reach out and really talk to voices that we haven't heard before... i think al jazeera america is a watershed moment for american journalism >> start with one issue ad guests on all sides of the debate. and a host willing to ask the to

, the u.s. epa is taking concern with utah. in part of a statement to us they said "this is a serious and complex problem,: >> i took a look at the letter addressed to you, a 64-paged letter from the epa. what are some of those concerns that they are itemising. >> this is in response to an 1800 page plan we provided to them. the comments will be addressed. mostly they are technical. when it comes to strategies, it is an agreement. they helped us develop those. we expected comments back, we'd be addressing those as part of divisions to the plan. it's part of our interas with the environmental protection agency. >> is utah dragging its feet? >> i think so. a few days a year versus beijing's hundreds of days a year, it's kind of - it's not a correct thing. i don't believe it's a correct statement to say that the rest of the air is great. it's not. our high levels of ozone as a mountain biker, it's a problem. while they may not be hacking up, the contents of a cold weather inversion. there are cluster m

insistedally, the epa that the manufacturer release me from the confidentiality contract.e publish our findings in pretty high ranking journals such as the national academy of sciences, nature, environmental health perspectives. >> when did you get a sense that the company was organizing a campaign against you, what were the signs that you saw once you publish your findings? before the epa became involved and we published our findings, the company tried to register data and give me a new contract so they would control the data and experiments. they tried to get me to visit the company to get control of the data. when i refused, i invited them to the university to share data, but they wanted to purchase the data. as mentioned in the article, they hired scientists to review or pick apart the data. eventually they hired scientists to do experiments to claim that it refuted our data, and that escalated to the company, and two presentations, lectures that make handoutsto or to stand up and refute the data, and eventually led to threats of violence. talk, oneould give a man woul

you might have a narrow victory for the epa. >> what are the economics of this? industries are saying that there is a real potential that millions of sources might be limited. we're talking about tens of billions of costs. they are not just attacking this narrow provision but other provisions as well. there is a huge amount at stake over how to limit greenhouse gas emissions. >> greg stohr joining us this afternoon. coming up, the challenges facing the ukraine. a closer look at the economic and financial hurdles ahead for the country's interim leadership. tom lipsky points meet when "bottom line" continues in just a moment. ♪ >> ukraine's finance minister says his country needs $35 billion to survive this year and next. my next guest says while there is a war for international assistance, world leaders are looking for the government to commit to reforms of first. john lipsky is the distinguished the johnscholar at hopkins school of advanced international study and also served as the first deputy managing to rector of the international monetary fund. welcome back

and even the epa is critical of how utah is handling it's pollution crisis, and how the state senate just rejected a bill that might be able to do something about it. did you know that you can prer act with our show on your smart phone or tablet. check this out. >> welcome back. we're talking about utah and it's very high levels of air pollution that in fact rival los angeles. bryce, the state legislature failed to pass a bill that would put more teeth in the current standards, and i realize ta you're not on the policy making end of this, but why do you think that there was that push back, when pretty much everybody agrees that the air in utah needs improvement. >> the legislator is in session for a month, and they have provisions that are up for discussion. when it comes to air pollution, there are two big components, one is that you have a plan to address it, and you're making improvements, and the best time to do that is in the past. we have a long history of addressing air pollution in our area, and we're building on that past effort. and on that note, the one comparison that's i

the sewer lines. this is a map of that epa super fund site called the new or middle field ellis site. it's been around since the 1980s. when the epa first identified then proposed a remedy to clean uptons of toxic chemicals left in the soil and ground water by the budding semi conductor based here. the most prevalent chemical that lingers in the soil, ground water and air is tce, a cleaning so chemical that can cause cancer in people and heart deformities in unborn babies. >> it was a hard battle. >> reporter: this couple and their family live just outside the boundary of the toxic plume. >> the first time we heard he had cancer, we didn't believe it. >> reporter: six years ago this month, their son edgar developed acute lymphoma when he was three. edgar's cancer is in remission after four years of treatment but after high concentrations were measured outside the super fund plume including in this house across the street, they have more questions. >> i want to know answers if it would cause his cancer. >> what caused him to get cancer is very hard to say, yeah, maybe that. >> reporter

the epa said at a press conference here, oh, we have a stud ty that shows that won't happen. study and they haven't given it to us. >> wow. it is an upsetting thing that happened, but to hear that even at the federal level, the response 30 days out, or a month out, is still that from the people who ought to know how serious this is and what a national concern this is. it's just -- it's very upsetting. ken ward, reporter for west virginia's "charleston gazette." your reporting on this has been very aggressive and very informative and to let the rest country know what's going on, ken. thanks for your reporting thanks for being with us. >> to uh. >> so welcome to russia, everybody. and by everybody, obviously i don't mean quite a few of you. hold on, that's coming up. [ woman #1 ] why do i cook? because an empty pan is a blank canvas. [ woman #2 ] to share a moment. [ woman #3 ] to travel the world without leaving home. [ male announcer ] whatever the reason. whatever the dish. make it delicious with swanson. on expedia you can book any flight, car and hotel together and save up

whitfield sent to the epa back in november talking about these new emissions standards. nd they based those on some demonstration projects using carbon capture. it just so happens that the energy policy with section 402, if anyone wants to look it up, says that they can't do that. exclusively. we sent this letter and they are not responding to it but yesterday they did backdoor the situation and maybe they got around this line may be what they have done is illegal and they will take a step back. so right now my position on some of the things that they are doing in the war against coal is that you may not like it if you can't change the law. follow the law. >> let me just quickly respond and say that the epa is following the law and the courts have agreed with that. furthermore, i think that the problem is not the war against coal but rather market conditions changing and wal-mart natural gas coming on the market and not only is it less environmentally sound than natural gas, but it's also not as economical to produce. so i feel badly for the coal miners and their families

according to the epa, plastic marine debris has great potential to alter the environment and impact humans and wildlife. since it floats at all depths of the ocean, it's widely transported by ocean currents, persists in the environment for years, and is not readily digest i believe when consumed. according to the coastal commission ~ plastic accounts for over three quarters of all debris found in the marine environment and the epa says 80% of the total marine debris comes from land sources. it is widely documented fish and marine life will eat plastic which causes irritation, damage to the digestive system, or even death. if plastics are kept in the gut instead of passing through fish and other animals feel full on plastic and not food which leads to malnutrition or starvation. the epa estimates that plastic marine debris effects 267 species globally, including 86% of sea turtles, 44% of sea birds, 43% of marine mammals. additionally, according to noah, plastic did he breaux come blats plastic chemicals such as pcbs, [speaker not understood] which have been shown to adhere to plastic parti

but they gave the epa sufficient latitude that the courts now say you can regulate epa. can regulate greenhouse gases. >> obviously, the critics would say this is something so sweeping, it would be best left to congress. why is that not happening? is it just that congress is so embarrassingly paralyzed that the president has decided, well, to hell with them, i'm just going to do it? >> i think that's part of it. and it's not just that it's paralyzed. it's actually opposed to the president in lots of areas. certainly, the house of representatives, which is now under republican control, is simply just against a lot of the things that president obama is for. so it's not just paralysis. it's active opposition. now, it's also true that congress passes a lot fewer laws than it used to, because there is a significant element of paralysis in both parts of congress. but, you know, i think we shouldn't criticize congress entirely when they just have a substantive disagreement with the president. that's -- that's why we have elections. >> and i can't stand it and i get it this is th

whitman came out in favor of the epa's powers, writing, i absolutely agree with president obama, thety to issue regulations addressing climate change. christine todd whitman served as president george w. bush's first epa chief, a two-term governor of new jersey, the only female governor in the state's history and this is her first tv interview since monday. hello and honor to have you here. >> thank you, good to be with you. >> why don't we start with the case? we had oral arguments monday. we have something that is often looked at at a deeper technical level because they get into some administrative law, but you wrote and argued here this week that at the broad level, this is about a clearly established power to deal with climate change and pollution. >> if you look at the history of previous court decisions, whether it was a massachusetts's decision or second circuit in d.c., both said epa has broad responsibility to regulate pollutants and greenhouse gases, obviously, fall under that. and it's always been -- the basic premise here is, it has to be a federal agency, because mother

what is the epa's position on this? agency going to do in the next 90 days to have input into this process? >> well, chris, as you know, the final environmental impact statement has gone out. epa and other agencies are going to be commenting on that. i think people are aware that epa has been free to comment as it should on the science and the analysis. we'll continue to do that. and i'm confident that the right decisions will be made and epa will be able to impact those with our comments moving forward. >> the white house has been a big booster of natural gas. >> yes. >> the president has talked about it in variety of speeches. he talked about it in his big climate speech, talked about it in the state of the yun yunion. there's a new study out and looks at the greenhouse gas effect of fracking, particularly. there's the carbon part of it. there's also methane. methane is a much more powerful greenhouse gas than even carbon. this study, researchers estimate the country's methane emissions are probably about 50% higher t

the last time there was a challenge to epa regulatory power, he sided with the agency. today, he said i read all your briefi briefing. i don't see a case that supports what you're asking me. it does seem to suggest he's got some doubts. >> we'll follow it. shannon bream outside the u.s. supreme court tonight. thank you. >>> three day care centers in west virginia. four hospitals in georgia. the shutdowns of those facilities are just some of the largely unpublicized consequences of obamacare. tonight, another that could affect millions of american families at some point. here's chief national correspondent jim ingle. >> hhs secretary kathleen sebelius may have her own moment similar to president obama's promise that everyone could keep their plan and their doctor no matter what, after making this statement. >> there is absolutely no evidence and every economist will tell you, there is any job loss related to the affordable care act. >> nevertheless, secretary sebelius using discretion granted by the affordable care act, cut the maximum allowed by law from home health car

i think that when it comes to clean, the clean water situation i think the epa or the supreme court willbably look at that in a similar fashion. i would hope overall that their decision kind of bleeds into looking more of what president obama has done with his executive orders as we've seen with specific laws. i mean deciding not to enforce certain things, only because they don't agree with them, not just they have been struck down by congress or changed. obamacare is obviously the biggest example of that. it will be interesting to see what arguments are made, especially from the obama side of the court, to say what about that. >> appropriate delegation of authority by the congress to create epa. frankly the epa is doing a lot of good things to rye to put that in -- lou: created by richard nixon. >> that's correct. and the original father was congressman who since passed from california named george brent. this is serious stuff. the overreach by government is one thing. trying to toss out watch of what epa has done in rule making protective citizenry of this country would be a great mist

the epa responded to concerns and selected the community as a community in need of help. >> there's aroblem. we are one of 10 communities selected as an epa showcase community project in 2010. >> the epa invested 100,000 in a partnership with the community. >> we are disproportionate abombarded by the toxic waste. and insirnerrate facilities. we were being disproportionately dumped on and attacked by the toxic pills. >> kelly joined forces with an environment enny deemiologist to study the expects on resist dents. there was a higher level of asthma, it's difficult to prove it's related to the environment. concern. >> it is possible that every in the complex can be in compliance with the emissions. if you live in the midst of that it may not be safe. >> oil was discovered in texas arthur. >> the petrochemical industry is what built texas, which is why it's the powerhouse economically that it is. it is rooted in this industry in this reege on. -- region >> by 1923, port arthur was bus lipping. the people that made their money no longer live there. >> what is different is the old money h

on the federal side we support the manchin-boxer proposal. by requiring epa to establish minimum acceptable standards by which the states will be held accountable we can significantly reduce the risk of similar problem in the future. the program was developed in the late 1980 they recognized over 2 million systems estimated to be located at over 700,000 facilities nationwide existed with little or no oversight and that over 75% of the existing systems were made of unprotected steel, a type of tarng system proven to be the most likely to leak and thus great greatest potential. the success of the program nationally undisputable. the tbof ground stonch tank universe is not nearly as well known. it's regulated by registering. or leek detection monitoring either. the registration requirement in current legislation is the key to us getting a handle on the universe of structures that are currently underregulated. we are optimistic that the legislation currently pepping in west virginia will of this type of incident and we can serve as an example to other states to b

i just happen to have a letter that myself that we sent to the epa back to november talking about these new coal based emissions standards. they base those standards on demonstration projects with use of carving capture it and the sequestration. the energy policy act if anybody wants to look it up explicitly says they cannot do that. but yesterday they did a proposal that maybe they did. baby but they have done is illegal maybe they will take a step back. right now my position on some of these things with the war is you may not like it if you cannot change the law, follow the law. >> let me respond i think the epa is following the law and the courts have agreed. furthermore the problem with coal is not of war against coal but market conditions changing. not only less environmentally but not as economical to produce or burn. i feel badly for the coal miners in their families but we need to help them transition to a cleaner were easily achieved a fuel of natural gas. >> you have some coal in your backyard is a central illinois how do you feel right now about the epa regulations? >> joe is

, when the own epa ministry under said, this is not going to impact climate, theoil sands are going to get to market with no single project is going to have that much of an impact. this isn't about climate. it is about another agenda and it is about politics. >> the head of the epa saying it won't have an impact on climate change? 's well, the state department eis -- >> environmental impact statement. >> does. despite what we think is the undue influence of the oil industry says, you could have up to 27 million metric tons of release.year in a if you're looking at the president's test when he says he will not approve a pipeline that had significant carbon emission, this pipeline can emit significant carbon into the air. >> can we talk about with this tar sands pipeline will do? let's start with you, erich pica , then we will move on to cindy. the issue of where the oil goes and who uses this oil that crosses the united states through nebraska down to the gulf coast. >> that is an interesting question because when we talk about energy security, it is for who. , bef

and you can use it how you like. >> reporter: the epa said that the spill site on the elk river is stable. but some public health officials are still questioning the safety of the water. >> unwilling participants in an experiment that we still don't know a lot about the impact of this chemical on humans. >> reporter: in the meantime, worried residents like mother of two, michelle, are planning on leaving the state soon. >> my husband and i are born and raised in west virginia and we love our state, but we have two daughters, and as i told several friend, the cost of live here in west virginia is too high. >> public officials and public concerns to restore faith. and water distribution sites are open, and the chemical smell lingers with the fears of long-term affects. charleston, west virginia. >> meantime, farmers in west virginia are also having problems with water, but their situation is with the drought. it's affecting crops and the economy around the world in what is being called a crisis. we'll have that later in the show. >>> unemployment is 6.7%, and that's the lowest in five years

the epa's inter percent spurred by local activists like kelly, has made a difference here. fficials told "america tonight," preliminary data from last year indicated air quality in the city now meets their standards. the industry group said companies had invested several million dollars in the community in the last year. including building a new health center for areas residents. >> i am hopeful through this knew sort of communication between the grassroots organization and industry and local government, this new communication link that has been forge the betweeforged between l it can be used to where we can somehow sit down and agree to a plan to help better protect this community. >> port arthur has a long way to go. kelly says stronger measures need to be taken. in a community in the shadow of one of the world's largest refinery complexes. but he's staying put. >> well, i say to a person who would tell me to move, when do we stop moving? when do we stop and turn and fight? these industries are cropping up all over the country. all over the world. so what we are saying to

when the change makes it not work entirely as congress foretold. >> the epa chose to try timely meant the broad protective goals of the statute by bending a little bit on the implementation side. i think tt's a choice that agencies have to be able to make. >> scores ever businesses, states, led by texas and several gop lawmars are characterizing what happened as an unprecedented power grab and calling on the justices to restore what they argue is the rightful balan between the branches. >> from a constitutional perspective this is a wholly troubling practice that needs to be rectified by the high court. >> as is so often the case here at the court the swing vote could be justice anthony kennedy the last time there was a major challenge to epa regulatory here at the court he sided with the agency. but today at the federal government came to the close of its arguments, he said i read all your briefin and i see no case anywhere that strongly supports asking knee what to do to back what the epa isone. esn't tetell us for sure how he will vote but seems to suggest he has doubt this is time

i think that when it comes to clean, the clean water situation i think the epa or the supreme court will in a similar fashion. i would hope overall that their decision kind of bleeds into looking more of what president obama has done with his executive orders as we've seen with specific laws. i mean deciding not to enforce certain things, only because they d't agree with them, not just they have been suck down by congress or changed. obamacare is obviously the biggest example of that. it will be interesti to see what arguments are made, especially from the obama side of the court, to say what about that. >> appropriate delegation of authority byhe congresto create epa. frankly the epa is doing a lot of good things to rye to put that in -- lou: created by richarnixon. >> that's correct. and the original father was congressman who since passed from california named george brent. this is serious stuff. the overreach by government is one thing. trying to toss out watch of what epa has done in rule making protective citizenry of this country would be a great mistake. lou: is it a great mistak

senate democrat to vote against the confirmation of president obama's choice to be the new head of the epajanuary 9th of this year, four weeks ago. a chemical spill paralyzed governor manchin's state. a chemical used in the processing of coal. the banks of the elk river in charleston, west virginia, at the public water intake for charleston's drinking water supply. that chemical it turns out was stored poorly in tanks maintained poorly been and unregulated storage chemical industry. when that chemical spilled into the elk river, it was an unprecedented disaster in modern times. one in six people in the state of west virginia had no drinking water for days. frankly, you can forgive people for thinking the safety of their drinking water may still be uncertain given upward revisions in the amount of chemical that was spilled and even late revelations from company responsible that showed that it was not just one chemical that spilled, but two. forgot to mention the other one. the company's called freedom industries. they filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy just about a week after the spill. after

it appears that public pressure and our own pressure on the governor and the epa has come out with a od result here, today, john. >> robert ray in charleston, thank you. as we mentioned at the top of the hour, competition at the 2014 winter olympics begins in just a few hours, yet some are not ready. visitors to sochi have been posting pictures of partially constructed buildings. more than 24,000 rooms have been in sochi, more than the number of hotel rooms in moscow. gion gomeshi is in sochi, spoke to us from the game's media center and agreed that the hotel media accommodations leave a lot to be desired. >> on the one hand there are beautiful buildings that are glittery and brand spanking new but on the other hand there is an emptiness of a manufactured town built around the olympics that has little more, little legacy, little to do with sports in the past and kind of just been plopped down here. and feels particularly unfinished for all that we've heard about the $52 billion, some are speculating $60 billion that has been spent. it is not actually done. there are some hotels, venue

. >> we're talking about the epa's npw site around moffett field. they show the contamination has spread beyond the boundaries of that super fun site and now there's a concern that the city's underground storm drains and sewage lines have transported these toxic chemicals called tce, from the site to other parts of the city. scientists are finding new hot spots of tce that now we discovered seem to be following the city's underground utility lines. >> it's not proof beyond a reasonable doubt but it's the best explanation of the data. and the best explanation we have right now is these horizontal conduits, storm drains or sewer lines, are the source. >> reporter: now tonight after the olympics, the investigative unit digs deeper. for the first time the unit pieces together some maps and scientific data to try to find out exactly where this tce might be coming from. we'll lay it and show it to you tonight. our team talks to the epa about its efforts to clean up this mess. that's all coming up after the olympics. >> that's a critical story for many peop

they're pressing the epa to require the industry to report what is seeping into the air and al jazeera has more. >> an engineer who is enjoying working in his backyard. but he's concerned about the neighborhood. he lives in an industrial corridor in louisiana. >> all the plants are basically over here? >> right, they're all that way. >> and not very far. we're-- >> not really, no. they're pretty close. >> most u.s. industries have to report annual toxic emissions over 10,000 pounds to the environmental agencies toxic inventory. it was created so the public knows what chemicals are being released in the air. >> if people don't know what they're living next to they can't assess their own risk for health. >> it didn't include oil and gas production and exploration facilities in the requirement. >> no one is looking at it, no one it monitoring it. they could release 100,000 pounds and say they released 13,000, whose to know. >> a study of state records of the environmental integrity project shows 395 facilities in colorado, louisiana, pennsylvania, north dakota, texas and wyoming had toxic

>> the epa does have the right to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. whether the agent is allowed to regulate moving sources like cars or buses. the question is about stationary sources, things like coal fired power plants. any new plants coming on line the epa says would have to undergo a fairly rigorous permitting process. if they were large in size. well, some states, republican-led for the most part and some energy groups have pushed back against that and the case made it all the way to the supreme court this morning. so what's at stake is actually fairly narrow. it doesn't relate to all plants. it just is relating to these large ones. but it is symbolic in many ways, because it gets to the question of how far the obama administration can push forward with regulations. >> and as you know libby everyone tries to draw conclusions based on the questioning from the justices. what did you hear in the questioning today? >> we really got a sense right from the outset that the court is fairly divided in this issue along the traditional lines. the liberal j

scientific data to try to figure out where this tce might be coming from and their team talks to to the epa about its efforts to clean up the mess. >> more people have walked on the moon than hosted "the tonight show." tonight, jimmy fallon becomes just the sixth person to host "the tonight show" in 60 years. >> no pressure, right? no big deal. mark barger sat down to talk about pass the torch to a new generation and also bringing it back to new york. >> "saturday night live" was his start. "late night" was his warm-up. now, jimmy fallon's really center stage. >> it doesn't get bigger than "the tonight show." this is the job of your lifetime. >> do you feel pressure? >> a little pressure. more excitement and i don't want to -- i just don't want to ruin something that means so much. i just -- i don't want to screw it up. >> fallon's tonight show predecessor is confident he won't. >> the people who make the best hosts are the ones that have actually had contact with an audience like jimmy. a lot of guys have come from radio and today do these things and they don't make that connection. >> fal

he is implementing it through the epa. he will continue to do that. he laid out in the state of union this week the areas where you will see continued action like that. >> james, on the epa, what is the recourse if the president, when he moves on regulation like this, is there a response? obviously, it can't be challenge in the courts and you're seeing that. for example, the recess appointment decision probably will be overturned in the coming months by the supreme court. are the courts the only recourse? >> you have a few options. you mentioned the justices all seemed skeptical of his claim he and not congress declares when congress is in recess. if the courts can help, that's great. congress does have a role to play. they have the appropriations power. they can say in the annual bills when they fund the government, you may not spend any of this money implementing x, y or z. they also -- >> the senate will say you must fund it because they are controlled by the president's party. that doesn't work very well. >> another option is there are ways that co

the epa, the environmental protection agency, wants the power to regulate small bodies of water. ponds. streams. brooks. item. smog. standards to ease ozone levels are expected from the epa. item. restaurant menu item calorie counts. chain restaurants and vending machines will be required to supply them. calorie counts on items. item. rear view cameras. not mirrors. cameras on cars to alert drivers to movement at the rear of their vehicles when backing up so that passer-byes won't be hit. such rearview cameras may be required on all automobiles. item. executive pay transparency. a rule that would compel companies to disclose the pay gap between ceos and average workers. question. will president obama try to push his agenda through a massive expansion of federal regulations and federal oversight in 2014? >> i think without question he's going to do this. he's already stated this. since he doesn't seem to be able to get much through congress, he's going to do whatever he can through executive action. we have a political system that seems to be more or less paralyzed and i can under

when the change makes it not work entirely as congress foretold. >> the epa chose to try timely meant the broad protective goals of the statute by bending a little bit on the implementation side. i think that's a choice that agencies have to be able to make. >> scores ever businesses, states, led by texas and several gop lawmakers are characterizing what happened as an unprecedented power grab and calling on the justices to restore what they argue is the rightful balance between the branches. >> from a constitutional perspective this is a wholly troubling practice that needs to be rectified by the high court. >> as is so often the case here at the court the swing vote could be justice anthony kennedy the last time there was a major challenge to epa regulatory here at the court he sided with the agency. but today at the federal government came to the close of its arguments, he said i read all your briefing and i see no case anywhere that strongly supports asking knee what to do to back what the epa is done. doesn't tell us for sure how he will vote but seems to suggest he has doubt thi

to say the epa has control over every ditch, and that's what some of these regulations are doing, a ditch on the side of a road and it's just overreach. you've got to have common sense in regulations. i think we ought to be able to drill on public lands because drilling is safe and it gives us energy that is efficient, it is low cost, and it gives us our competitive advantage for our manufacturing companies to move back to the united states. but if you don't use the vast resources that we have, like every other country in the world wants to be able to do and many don't have the rich natural resources that with he do, we have the cleanest, best technology to be able to bring oil into our country or to put the excel keystone pipeline down so we can get our oil to the refineries and the markets. if we stop those things, as is being done right now, we're not going to have the manufacturing base that we all want that create good paying jobs. >> all right. former senator kay bailey hutchison, i am heartened we agree on things related to public health. >>> thank you, joy. >> the pentagon announc

. >> reporter: when the epa set wrapped arreporting standards it include gas in the requirements. >>onitoring. they can release 100,000 pounds and tell that you they released 13,000 who is to know. >> reporter: a study of state records by the environment i integrity project show that 395 facilities in colorado, penn, north dakota, texas and wyoming had taxiing releases surpassing 10,000 pounds in one year. the study calls the current rules arbitrary and refusing. refineries like this are required to report toxic release sews that people who live in homes like this a few feed away. know exactly what is going in to their air. but for the people who live by similar oil and gas facilities, air quality could be a mystery. >> i think that they have been escaping attention through the loophole for many years. >> reporter: with a nationwide energy boom underway, oil and gas facilities are expanding almost everywhere. while the louisiana oil and gas association didn't return our calls for comment. the epa has said it will consider requiring oil and gas plants to report emissions. >> there sho