The Environmental Protection Agency has given BP 24 hours to find a less toxic chemical dispersant to break up the oil gushing from their ruined pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico. These dispersants are used to break up the crude into droplets that will sink into the water, making them more easily diluted by ocean currents and less likely to threaten shoreline ecoystems or marine life on the surface.

The Environmental Protection Agency may begin an investigation into a series of facial birth defects among migrant farm workers in Kettleman City, California. If the EPA takes on the case, it will mark a sharp turn in the agency's attitude towards issues of environmental justice. 

• Washington Takeout: Todd Zwillich brings us yesterday's announcement from the Environmental Protection Agency, which says greenhouse gasses are harmful to humans and can be regulated without Congressional approval.
• World Takeout: The BBC's Aleem Maqbool joins us from Islamabad to update us on recent bombings in the Punjabi city of Multan.
• Listener Takeouts: We hear from our listeners about climate change and creative job hunting.

Regulating greenhouse gases has been one of the most contentious issues for the EPA. In 2003, the agency ruled that carbon dioxide could not be regulated as a pollutant. A 2007 Supreme Court decision ordered the EPA to review the scientific case for that decision, but the Bush administration ignored that ruling. With the new administration in place, things are expected to change. Lisa Jackson, the new Administrator of the EPA, joins The Takeaway to explain the Agency's plans. Also joining the conversation is Congressman Fred Upton, a Republican Congressman from Michigan, who is the Ranking member of the House Energy and Environment Subcommittee. He's one of the leading opponents of cap-and-trade and the Waxman-Markey climate bill working its way through Congress. He joins The Takeaway with his opposition to the bill and why he thinks it would mortgage our future.