a003  2151  17 Mar 89
PM-Global Warming, Bjt,0618
EPA Urges Conservation Measures for Cars, Homes
By H. JOSEF HEBERT
Associated Press Writer
    WASHINGTON (AP) - Conservation techniques that were urged during the
energy shortages of the 70s should be adopted to combat global
warming caused by pollution, the EPA says.
    The Environmental Protection Agency, in a report Friday, outlined
actions such as development of fuel-efficient cars, energy saving
homes and solar technology, needed by the end of the century to
curtail global warming. They say such warming will occur unless air
pollution is reduced.
    In its report to the Senate subcommittee on environmental
protection, the EPA said most scientists agree that without action to
reduce pollution, the Earth can be expected to warm by 4 to 11
degrees Fahrenheit over the next 100 years.
    ''There's no doubt there is a consensus that the greenhouse
phenomenon is very real,'' said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., the
subcommittee chairman after hearing EPA Administrator William K.
Reilly summarize the EPA report.
    Scientists believe that a variety of pollutants are causing a
''greenhouse effect'' that traps the sun's infrared radiation,
instead of allowing it to go back into space, resulting in increased
warming. The gases most responsible for the warming are carbon
dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, methane and nitrous oxides.
    The EPA report said ''no single technology or policy can have
significant impact in mitigating the accumulation of greenhouse
gases'' because of their wide use. Instead, it said, that only by
dealing with the problem broadly can there be significant reductions.
    The recommendations outlined in the EPA report will be used by both
the administration and Congress to assess what kinds of regulatory
action or legislation might be needed on global warming.
    One focus, the agency said, must be aimed at reducing the use of
fossil fuels, which produce carbon dioxide, by far the largest single
contributor to global warming. Last decade, the high cost of such
fuels and the easy shutoff of foreign sources prompted conservation
moves.
    To curtail energy use, the report proposed:
    -Increasing average automobile fuel economy levels to 40 miles per
gallon by the year 2000. This is in sharp contrast to the Reagan
administration, which in recent years has urged elimination of
federal fuel economy standards and accommodated auto industry
requests not to set fleetwide standards above 26.5 mpg.
    -Taking measures to make new single family homes more energy
efficient so that on average they will use 50 percent less fuel heat
in the year 2000 than the average in 1980.
    -Setting fees of 7 percent to 20 percent on carbon emissions from
natural gas, oil and coal to encourage less use of those fossil
fuels.
    The EPA also suggested increasing research into solar technology so
it competes with oil and gas and pushing to get all industrial
countries to require catalytic converters similar to those required
in U.S. automobiles.
    But the report emphasized that increased energy efficiency will not
in itself provide the total answer. It said efforts must be made to:
    -Stop the loss of forests around the world by beginning in 1990 a
program aimed at planting at least as many trees as are cut down or
destroyed. Trees absorb carbon dioxide as they grow, keeping the gas
from getting into the atmosphere.
    -End the use of chlorofluorocarbons by all industrialized countries
over the next 14 years and take action to sharply curtail the
chemical's use by developing countries.
    The Bush administration and the Western European countries recently
agreed to phase out use of such gases, which contribute to depletion
of the world's ozone layer and are believed to be a major contributor
to global warming.
    
 
AP-NY-03-18-89 0034EST
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