Courting Action On Climate Change

[BlackSun]

Campaigning for president in 2000, George W. Bush pledged to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas contributing to global warming. After taking office, Bush broke his promise. Six years later, nothing has been done to regulate carbon dioxide emissions in the United States at the federal level. Now there is a chance the courts could force the Bush administration to take action. A group of 12 states has sued the Bush administration, arguing that the Clean Air Act requires the government to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles. The outcome of the case will "likely determine whether the Environmental Protection Agency can regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and other industries" as well. Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in this case, which the Houston Chronicle bills as "perhaps the most significant environmental case ever to reach its marbled halls."

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/14/politics...01a&ei=5070