Posted on 07/02/2008 11:31:34 PM PDT by neverdem
A judge in Georgia has thrown out an air pollution permit for a new coal-fired power plant because the permit did not set limits on carbon dioxide emissions.
Both opponents of coal use and the company that wants to build the plant said it was the first time a court decision had linked carbon dioxide to an air pollution permit.
The decisions broader legal impact was not clear, either for the plant, proposed to be built near Blakely, in Early County, Ga., or for others outside Georgia, but it signaled that builders of coal plants would face continued difficulties in the court system as well as with elected officials in many states.
In the ruling released late Monday afternoon, a state judge relied on a decision by the Supreme Court last year that carbon dioxide could be regulated as a pollutant. Carbon dioxide, which is colorless, odorless and not directly harmful to animals or plants, is not now regulated, and the Bush administration has signaled that it would not issue such regulations before the president leaves office.
But the judge, Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore in Superior Court in Fulton County, Ga., said that federal air pollution control laws required pollution permits to cover all pollutants that could be regulated under the Clean Air Act, not just those for which there is a separate, general numerical limitation. The case had been brought by the Sierra Club and a local environmental group, Friends of the Chattahoochee.
Judge Moore sent the case back to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, which had issued a permit in May 2007. The builders had planned to break ground on the $2 billion project later this year.
A spokeswoman for that department said late Monday that lawyers there had not finished evaluating the decision...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I think we should use activist judges to fire the power plants, except I’m not sure how well manure burns.
CC/GW PING
What you will eventually have....are certain states that get their plants built and certain states that don’t....and the haves will pass a ‘fee’ along to the have-nots....to ‘punish’ them in some fashion. I can see this occuring within ten years....with Alabama being one of the big states to accept nuclear and coal power. They will be fairly wealthly within twenty years off this fee business.
Look for the price of oil to go up again tomorrow.
Liberal congress and liberal judges will never allow that to happen. The “have” states will be forced to “share” with the have nots.
Here comes communism.
How in God’s name did we ever arrive at a point to where what mammals EXHALE is a pollutant? It’s truly mind boggling...
I also think it’s outrageous that a judge can stop a power plant from being built on such grounds in the first place. Examples such as this are all a part of this self inflicted “energy crises” we are presently in. It would be fitting if this judge had to live without electricity in his home for a few days.
They should just get rid of those pesky laws and legislators and proclaim the judges philosopher kings.
Study shows how broccoli fights cancer
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
Only when large numbers of people start freezing to death in the winter and dying of heat stroke in the summer will the general public begin demanding these worthless politicians and black robed activists start doing their damn job and protect the interests of We the People.
Not only do mammals exhale it, PLANTS must have it to live - simple biology.
We exhale CO2, plants inhale CO2, and exhale O. We neede each other to survive. God planned well.
Congress will eventually give way to drilling for the votes, The judges will then realize that they are the main line in the defense of the AntiAmerica position and will work mightily to see that progress is halted at every opportunity and they don’t have to worry about voters, mostly.
It gives the Left control of the economy and a big leg up in their crusade to destroy Freemarket Capitalism.
Disconnect the power to the court house.
See how the judge likes that...
And then there is this junk too. For all their demands they are not anywhere near ready to even begin bringing alternative energy to the market place. So the next time they say oil, coal, nuclear or whatever won't come on-line for years...through this little ditty at them. They need to just knock it off and realize the danger they are putting our entire nation in!
Indeed, people will freeze to death or die from heat. Others will starve, face rationing etc. if they keep up these antics. What is truly frightening is 1/2 the American public wants this stuff(would like another word, but don't want to get banned).
Sadly, I know youre right.
And the same 50% will cry for the government "to do something" when the lights go out because there's no more power. You'd almost think that was the plan all along.
Hold muh breath.
bump
Okay, judgie, if you don’t want coal, how about a nice nuclear plant?
We need to get over our addiction to Electricity, it’s just that simple.
Better yet, give them only 80 volts and see how they like it.
WALKING AND FREEZING ‘08!
Thanks for letting this happen...el Bushco...friggin Rinos and Marxist need to go!
This is the original intent of the carbon footprint crap. Block progress.
Right. As Barak H.(alf Honkey, All Donkey) Obama would say, “Utilities and power grids are just failed policies of the past.”
“a state judge relied on a decision by the Supreme Court last year that carbon dioxide could be regulated as a pollutant.”
I wonder if we have Justice Kennedy to thank for this.
What next? Illegal to exhale?
I wish the State of Georgia would just tell the judge she has no standing and give the order to build the plant regardless.
Well, that is one way to eliminate all of the ‘nasty’ humans on the earth, and save the planet (until all of the plant life dies, too).
“Georgia Judge Cites Carbon Dioxide in Denying Coal Plant Permit”
I pray the power fails in that judge’s house.
He is either ignorant or bribed or pushing the Communist agenda.
So give this jerk a PEBBLE BED NUKE!!! No CO2!
‘How in Gods name did we ever arrive at a point to where what mammals EXHALE is a pollutant?’
Are the courts going to ban Taco Bell next?
He is a she, and was appointed to that position for reasons other than good judgement. Impeachment would be too kind.
Plants will die without CO2. So saying that it's "not directly harmful" is idiotic.
Heck no. Just cut out the area where the judge lives. Let him freeze in the dark. (Or in this weather, roast...)
My thoughts exactly,maybe even his neighbor hood also.
“He is a she, and was appointed to that position for reasons other than good judgement. Impeachment would be too kind.”
Thank you.
I’m looking forward (way forward) to the day this world will be what man is incapable of: governed right. There will be A Judge who cannot be bribed.
This is the way it is going to be... take it from a guy who grew up around the “old growth” timber in Oregon, whose most famous denizens -— the spotted owl, giggled as they nested in the second growth timber. This was the blueprint 30 years ago. It has nothing (or at least, very little) to do with the environment, and much to do with flexing power by the Pharisees in our legalistic society.
Our only chance is to usurp their authority. The chances of that happening our dismal - though it has happened before. And I’m not referring to 1776, as those guys actually chose to “usurp” for a whole lot less than we squirm about today.
Bread and circuses.
In this case, Georgia shot itself in the foot. This is an elected judge.
We've got to stop the notion that judges are too delicate to campaign. Their records and positions have to be out in the public for the public to make an informed choice.
Also, we've got to stop the idea of lifetime appointment of judges. Twelve years is plenty of insulation to allow freedom of thought with judges. Besides, they don't think freely. They decide justice along party lines. Any idiot can see it.
“and not directly harmful to animals or plants”
Oh my. We better scrub all of that nasty CO2 out of the air immediately before it harms the plants.
STUPID JUDGE. IT IS PLANT FOOD !!!
Our Governor in Wisconsin has also promised to limit coal plants. The Fuel Assistance Fund is quite limited and several years ago, people were rationed to 1/2 tank of subsidized oil or propane when they ran out of fuel and money in January.I have read that the number of people cut off on electricity and heating fuel this summer was a record, all due to unpaid winter bills. I have no idea how any of these folks will be able to regain power and fuel for the coming winter. They would have to move out of state and these are the folks with the least ability to do that, the elderly, disabled and inadequately educated for work, let alone self-employment. Social Services is squeezed for funds as it is. I have read that they are already facing a crisis of folks unprepared for any self sufficiency who are being detained for mental health reasons, mostly anxiety, which is being blamed on the economy.
I have asked my critter, Ron Kind, if he really wants to be the Representative of a depopulated area of people whose life style will be reminiscent of rural Soviet Republics. No answer, of course, but I do expect populism to arise in response to the hardships I foresee this winter.
Having facilitated the problem, I expect the media to spend 3-5 months screaming about the crisis. Given the state of the economy, I cannot see how increasing taxes is going to help, as the number of those who generate income is likely to
decline below the level where there is anyone left to be taxed to that extent.
I don’t expect Obama to win, but if he does, and if he has any pragmatism at all, he is going to have to mandate energy production or preside over a real catastrophe. It is his base, after all, that will suffer, both the dependent and the latte liberals. Everyone is going to be shocked to realize that the number of wealthy is not static and can decline precipitously in hard times.
NOAA is forecasting a 33%-50% warmer winter for my area, but they did that last year and we know how that turned out.
She is something of a laughing stock locally.
She has decided not to run for re-election this year. Rumor is, she's going to Hollywood to star in one of those courtroom shows.
We are all glad to see her go. As you can see from this decision, she was totally unpredictable in her rulings and any adherence to the law was coincidental.
This will probably be reversed on appeal.
Still the potential is there to cause damage even in Hollywood. Massive die off of brain cells of the drooling idiots that might watch her show.
Thanks for the local insight to the story.
I was never actually in her courtroom that I recall. Of course, every jurisdiction has judges ranging from the merely incompetent to the totally crazy. Since Georgia elects judges, they eventually do get weeded out. Not as fast as some would like, but you have to be careful about getting politics involved in judicial elections. It's a real conundrum.
Judges make enough money to install NG gen sets. Blackouts are for the little people.
Is she a county judge? It says she was appointed by Maynard Jackson.
Judges make enough money to install NG gen sets. Blackouts are for the little people.”
I’m afraid you’re right.
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