US EPA chief says no rule on regulating carbon yet

WASHINGTON Feb 23 (Reuters) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency head Lisa Jackson said on Monday her agency has not made decision on whether to begin regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in April 2007 that the EPA had the right to regulate carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act. The Bush administration, however, blocked attempts to apply the law to greenhouse gases.

Now Jackson has authorized EPA to begin considering again how the agency should handle carbon emissions.

"We take very seriously the idea that we're going to review the science and put it out there for public comment whenever we do have a finding," Jackson told Reuters at the opening of the Georgetown State-Federal Climate Resource Center.

Although Jackson said the agency has not made a ruling on regulating carbon emissions, she dismissed critics' warnings that such action would bring the economy to a halt.

"That's a doomsday scenario designed to stop us in our tracks," she said. "We will be deliberate, thoughtful and transparent as we move down this road."

Jackson said the agency will work to reassure the American public that its staff understands the major repercussions surrounding this decision.

She said she did not have date for when the ruling would be released. (Editing by Christian Wiessner)