Supreme Court hears global warming case
Update: The Supreme Court decision was issued today: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/benchconference/2007/04/the_supreme_court_giveth_and_t.html
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed in Aug. 2006 to hear a case where several states argue that the federal government (in particular the Environmental Protection Agency) is failing to enforce a law requiring regulation of automobile emissions of greenhouse gasses. The states want the federal government to set standards rather than doing so themselves, as California has done for many years for other automobile pollutants. The name of the case is Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency. The legal issue is whether the law requires the EPA to regulate greenhouse gasses from cars or whether the agency can choose not to regulate. One survey states:
It is also important to underscore that this case is not about the science of climate change. There is no dispute that human emissions of greenhouse gases affect the global climate. Rather, the fundamental issues are whether the Clean Air Act mandates the sort of regulatory action the petitioners seek, and whether these (or any) petitioners are entitled to bring these claims in court.
introduction:
from CNN
from msnbc
explanation of importance
Wikipedia
supreme court watching:
from the New York Times
Supreme court documents and transcript
opinion:
the Sierra Club has an article with good links
transcript of a panel discussion at the American Enterprise Institute (or listen to an audio)
Marketplace business report on the issue
commentary on the legal issue
more legal issues from a liberal point of view
a conservative blog