25,000 metric tons

Minimum amount of greenhouse gases that an industrial facility would have to emit annually to be affected by a new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule aimed at regulating carbon emissions. The rule will require facilities producing more than 25,000 tons of greenhouse gases to obtain permits demonstrating their use of the best available technology to reduce emissions, or face penalties. The final rule was signed by EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson on September 22.

"By using the power and authority of the Clean Air Act, we can begin reducing emissions from the nation's largest greenhouse-gas-emitting facilities without placing an undue burden on the businesses that make up the vast majority of our economy," said Jackson in a September 30 speech. "This is a commonsense rule that is carefully tailored to apply to only the largest sources—those from sectors responsible for nearly 70 percent of U.S. greenhouse-gas-emissions sources."
 
About 14,000 facilities, namely power plants, refineries, and factories, would be affected. Farms, restaurants, hospitals, and other small businesses would not, according to the EPA.

The new EPA rule comes in advance of December's United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. Critics of the rule contend that it unfairly singles out big industry and that the EPA is violating the terms of the Clean Air Act by using it to regulate greenhouse gases.—Daniel DiClerico | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: You can lower the amount of greenhouse gases you generate at home and on the road. Whether you use compact fluorescent lightbulbs or install a solar water heater (stories and ratings available to subscribers), you can cut your utility bills by $1,500 a year.