Sludge Watch ==> Bush Loses Global Warming Case

[Maureen Reilly]

http://www.torontodailynews.com/index.php/SciTechNews/2007040211bush-global-warming




Bush Loses Global Warming Case


   Bush administration has lost one of the most significant
   environmental cases to reach the Supreme Court in decades.


Bush administration has lost one of the most important environmental cases 
in decades.

U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
now has the power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

In a 5-4 decision that was seen as a clear rebuke to the White House, the 
court said the Clean Air Act now can enforce the control over greenhouse 
emissions which are are covered by the Clean Air Act as they are air 
pollutants, justice John Paul Stevens said in his majority opinion.

Until now EPA had refused to determine carbon dioxide and other emissions 
from new cars and trucks that contribute to climate change. But the court 
said the agency offered no reasoned explanations for its unwilligness to 
take action.

The EPA said it was committed to reducing greenhouse gases and it was 
"reviewing the court's decision to determine the appropriate course of 
action".

"Today the nation's highest court has set the White House straight," said 
David Doniger of the Natural Resources Defence Council, "Carbon dioxide is 
an air pollutant, and the Clean Air Act gives EPA the power to start cutting 
the pollution from new vehicles that is wreaking havoc with our climate."

The Supreme Court ruling a massive defeat for the Bush administration which 
has consistenly argued that any move to cap greenhouse gas emission would be 
bad for business, especially for the oil industry.

The United States is the world's largest producer of greenhouse gases.