The US Government has declared carbon dioxide a 'toxic' gas that endangers public health in a judgement that analysts said would strengthen the Obama administration's negotiating position in Copenhagen.

The Environmental Protection Agency also found that greenhouse gas emissions from on-road vehicles contributed to the threat of public health. It provides a legal basis for capping harmful emissions.

'The accumulation of CO2 and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere can lead to hotter, longer heat waves that threaten the health of the sick, the poor, the elderly - that can increase ground-level ozone pollution linked to asthma and other respiratory illnesses,' said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.

The ruling will allow the agency to regulate planet-warming gases even without legislation in Congress, according to Reuters. 'The agency could begin to make rules as soon as next year to regulate emissions from vehicle [exhausts], power utilities and heavy industry under existing laws,' it said.

Ms Jackson said that the announcement was the 'prerequisite' for strong new emissions standards for cars and trucks, which President Barack Obama announced last spring.

The UK Government praised the decision. 'The announcement further demonstrates the US' seriousness to taking domestic action on climate change,' said a spokesperson for the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

'But it is up to each individual country to decide how it implements the commitments it makes internationally.'

The European Commission applauded the ruling, saying that it should give further impetus to negotiations underway here aimed at crafting a new global agreement to curb greenhouse gases.

The so-called endangerment finding by the EPA was 'an important signal by the Obama administration that they are serious about tackling climate change and are demonstrating leadership,' a spokesman from the European Commission told the New York Times.

Andreas Carlgren, the Swedish environment minister, the country that currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU, said in an e-mail message that the ruling 'shows that the United States can do more than they have put on the table'.

Media commentators hailed the decision, saying that it would strengthen President Obama's negotiating position ahead of his arrival in Copenhagen next week.

The Financial Times said that it had increased the President’s 'firepower' at the climate change conference, saying that gave Mr Obama a 'tangible achievement to tout when he travels to Denmark'.

In its lead editorial, the paper said the US presence in Copenhagen would not be 'more purposeful'. 'The prospect of EPA action will focus minds in Congress and make passage of cap-and-trade more likely. And it means Mr Obama will be far from empty-handed when he goes to Copenhagen.'

The Guardian said the declaration allows the government to impose emissions cuts 'without agreement of a reluctant Senate'.

'The timing of the announcement – in the opening hours of the UN's Copenhagen climate change summit – prevents Barack Obama from arriving at the talks without concrete evidence that America will do its bit to cut the emissions that cause global warming,' the report said.

The American media also gave the move a positive response. The LA Times said that the EPA action had sent a strong message to the Senate, where progress on a crucial climate bill has stalled.

In its editorial column it said: 'The finding by the EPA, which paves the way toward concrete regulatory limits on greenhouse gases, is the most significant action taken by the federal government to date to address the problem. That should make President Obama's mission in Copenhagen next week a little bit easier.'

In its editorial the New York Times said that if Congress wanted to prevent the EPA from imposing emissions cuts, there was 'one obvious way - and that is for Congress to pass a credible and comprehensive bill requiring economy-wide cuts in emissions.'

The wildlife charity WWF welcomed the decision, saying that it showed that the Administration was 'committed to enforcing the Clean Air Act and addressing dangerous climate change'.

Related links

EPA Greenhouse Gases Threaten Public Health and the Environment / Science overwhelmingly shows greenhouse gas concentrations at unprecedented levels due to human activity, EPA - United States Environmental Protection Agency 07 December 2009

EPA moves on climate as Congress stalls, Reuters 08 December 2009

Europe Praises U.S. Ruling on Greenhouse Gases, The New York Times 08 December 2009

Emissions ruling adds to US firepower, Financial Times 07 December 2009

A changed climate, Financial Times 07 December 2009

US climate agency declares CO2 public danger, Guardian 07 December 2009

The EPA's long-overdue climate change ruling, Los Angeles Times 08 December 2009

The Endangerment Finding, The New York Times 07 December 2009

WWF welcomes US EPA finding on greenhouse gases, WWF 07 December 2009