EPA Agrees to Consider Limits on Greenhouse Gases to Prevent Ocean Acidification?

The New York Times' Energy and Environment blog reports that EPA has agreed to settle a lawsuit in Washington State by agreeing to consider regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Water Act. I haven't seen the settlement agreement, but this is how the Times characterized it:

U.S. EPA settled a lawsuit yesterday by agreeing to use the Clean Water Act to address ocean acidification, a move that some see as opening a side door to federal curbs on greenhouse gases that scientists link to problems in the marine environment.

The settlement with the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity directly addresses EPA's failure to require Washington state to list its marine waters as impaired by rising acidity. The deal requires EPA to begin a rulemaking aimed at helping states identify and address acidic coastal waters.

The effort could lead to the first Clean Water Act effort to protect acidifying marine waters -- a move the center sees leading to restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions, just as the water law led to regulation of air emissions of mercury and pollution that causes acid rain.

Interesting. Having lost huge amounts of ground on the debate over the contribution of CO2 to global warming/climate change, the EPA is going to consider regulating it through the back door, through the Clean Water Act.