Posted on 04/27/2006 1:36:03 PM PDT by Vision
WASHINGTON - Ten states fired a new legal salvo at the federal government Thursday in a long-running court battle over global warming and pollution from power plants.
The states, joined by environmental groups, sued the Environmental Protection Agency over its decision not to regulate carbon dioxide pollution as a contributor to global warming.
New York, California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin filed the lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The states, led by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, want the government to require tighter pollution controls on the newest generation of power plants.
"We feel it's incumbent on EPA to regulate carbon emissions from those power plants now in order to help us get our arms around global warming," said Spitzer spokesman Marc Violette.
Also joining the lawsuit are the cities of Washington and New York, as well as Environmental Defense, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Sierra Club.
New York and other states have fought with the Bush administration for years over carbon dioxide emissions.
In July 2005, a three-judge panel in the same court upheld the EPA's decision not to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from cars and trucks under the Clean Air Act. The agency argues the law does not authorize them to regulate emissions to reduce global warming, and maintains there is not enough scientific data to support such a move.
The lawsuit was filed largely in response to the 2005 ruling, in the hopes that the courts will rule specifically whether the Clean Air Act can be used to fight global warming.
"We think this is the case that will decide that question," said Natural Resources Defense Council lawyer David Doniger.
An EPA spokesman did not immediately return a call for comment.
Environmentalists say 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States come from power plants. Carbon dioxide is believed to be the greatest single contributor to global warming.
A growing number of scientific studies bolster the theory that increased levels of carbon dioxide, methane and other gases are accumulating in the atmosphere, where they trap heat and raise the earth's average temperature.
Aren't all those states Blue states?
Hmmm. Maybe it'll let me sue some of the nuts for breathing. Maybe I should go to law school.
WOW, New Jersey wasn't part of it.
Probably because the global warming doesn't phase us after the years of toxic exposure!
Maybe they should sue over something that's really happening.
Why is gas so pricey?
Not by anyone with a remotely scientific background, and a modicum of sanity. Leaving aside the sun and concentrating on the absorption side of it, water and water vapor do far more. I bet that opaque dirt stuff does a bit too.
NM's Attorney General is running for the House. Actually has a chance to win District 1 which has been R for 40 years. This is pure posturing on her part.
Just barely nationally. Not locally, heavy Dim control with Richardson as Gov. Attorney General is running for House, this is pure politics to gain street cred with the libs on her part.
I think they should sue what's left of Mt. St. Helens.........
Is Spitzer's first name "Sue"? This joker's multitude of suits have already taken two points off GDP. Now he's going for three.
But the Earth ISN't getting warmer. The Earth WAS getting warmer, but satellite data says the overall global average temperature hasn't gone up or down noticably since 1998.
Silly lawsuits bother me.
"10 states in our union believe America is causing the Earth to get warmer. Wow, you can't make this stuff up folks"
It would seem that any freakin' moron can get elected to office. Just nuts.
The EPA should say "Fine, we will now work to fast track approvals with the NRC for nuclear power plants to allay any concerns of the states with regard to carbon emissions from current power plants".
Hee, Hee
What a surprise to see Spitzer out in the front of this clown posse.
Not.
Force the states to prove global warming is human caused before allowing the lawsuit to continue.
It continues to amaze me that so many people are caught up in something so phony (global warming). I guess everybody needs something to believe in. And in an age of such religious disbelief, global warming is the best they can do. Oh, well.
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