The National Environmental Trust has joined with Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly and 11 other states, three major metropolitan cities, one island government and several environmental groups in a historic Supreme Court challenge of the Environmental Protection Agency’s refusal to acknowledge greenhouse gases as air pollution.
The coalition is asking the court to review a decision issued last year by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in Commonwealth of Massachusetts vs. EPA. That ruling affirmed the EPA’s refusal to regulate global warming pollution from motor vehicles. The Appeals Court decision effectively ruled that declaring greenhouse gases as “pollution” would be too political.
“The lower court’s blatant punting on global warming is a travesty. Despite the plain and simple language of the law the lower court refused to act,” said John Stanton, vice president for the National Environmental Trust. “It’s time for the nation’s highest court to correct the lower court and take on global warming.”
Today’s petition claims that the EPA arbitrarily and capriciously concluded that the Clean Air Act does not provide the EPA authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The petition states that the Supreme Court’s review “is necessary to prevent the agency from continuing to claim that a decision of this Court prevents it from taking regulatory action to address climate change.”
“Global warming is real, it’s happening now and President Bush has the legal authority to regulate the pollution that’s causing it. He just doesn’t want to,” said Stanton. “The Supreme Court must overturn the lower courts judicial activism and give this case a proper hearing.”
BACKGROUND
The current case began in 1999, when various environmental groups filed an administrative “rulemaking petition” requesting that EPA set motor vehicle emission standards for four greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide. In August of 2003, the EPA denied the pending rulemaking petition. At that time, EPA also stated that — as a policy matter — it would not set motor vehicle emission standards even if it had authority. In October of 2003, this decision was challenged.
On July 15, the federal appeals court for the D.C. Circuit voted 2-1 to let the EPA’s current position on greenhouse gas pollutants stand. In August, the full bench of the appeals court for the D.C. Circuit was asked to hear the case. The court denied that request with a 4-3 decision, paving the way for today’s Supreme Court appeal.
The parties to this lawsuit are:
States: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, the District of Columbia, American Samoa Government
Cities: New York City, Mayor and City Council of Baltimore
Groups: Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Food Safety, Conservation Law Foundation, Environmental Advocates, Environmental Defense, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, International Center for Technology Assessment, National Environmental Trust, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Union of Concerned Scientists, and U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
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