In an interview earlier this week, the head of the E.P.A. Lisa Jackson said she had asked her staff to begin filing an “endangerment” claim concerning carbon emissions from new coal power plants. The final decision on the matter, expected to come sometime just before the April 2nd anniversary of the Mass. Vs. EPA decision, will have a profound effect on utlities, transportation, and the political clout of the U.S. at the upcoming United Nations Climate talks in Copenhagen this December.

The announcement comes as signal of a reversal of one of the last policies of the Bush era, which stated that carbon emissions should not be considered when granting permits for new coal power plants. The E.P.A. has recently begun citing internationally-supported findings suggesting that global warming gas emissions are having a negative effect on the worlds economy and health, and hence is likely to find that the U.S. should begin the process of regulating them.

Though the decision itself does not necessarily constitute the creation of a new “law,” it could possibly begin one of the largest policy-adjustments in American history, the New York Times reported yesterday. “We are poised to be specific on what we regulate and on what schedule,” Ms. Jackson said. Still-the undertaking will be massive.

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