|
Supremes: EPA Can Regulate CO2
I got this from a email newsletter from Pollution Engineering magazine. The link goes to the text of the US Supreme Court decision that just came out today.The Supreme Court today decided that the EPA has the authority under the Clear Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, particularly CO2, but it waits to be seen whether the agency also has the duty to do so. In a 5-4 decision, the court rejected the position of the Bush Administration, which argued that greenhouse gas emissions did not constitute pollutants as defined in the Clean Air Act. The Supreme Court majority decided U.S. motor-vehicle emissions make a "meaningful contribution to greenhouse gas concentrations" and hence, to global warming. Having fully imbibed Al Gorilioni's Kool-Aid. "A well-documented rise in global temperatures has coincided with a significant increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Respected scientists believe the two trends are related," Associate Justice John Paul Stevens wrote in the majority decision. And other respected scientists disagree. But debate has officially been ended by moonbats. The court also ordered the EPA to reevaluate its contention that it has the discretion not to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, noting that arguments should be tied to the Clean Air Act. During the trial, the administration used foreign policy and economic considerations to justify its position. Absenting federal controls, a number of states had begun to pass their own CO2 emission controls. Massachusetts and 11 other states, along with 13 environmental groups, sued the EPA to execute its authority under the Clean Air Act, which the agency argued it did not have. The court decided that states have the right to sue the EPA to challenge its decision and that the Clean Air Act gives the agency the authority to regulate tailpipe emissions of greenhouse gases. Justices Stevens, David Souter, Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg formed the majority opinion. Court conservatives Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts dissented. It's a full court press, folks. I had a hard time figuring out where to place this article, so I put it in Non-WoT. But 5th column subheading seemed so appropriate. The case is titled Massachusetts v. EPA. Posted by: Alaska Paul 2007-04-02 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=184724 |