Supreme Court To Hear Greenhouse Gas Case

The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to review an effort by a dozen northeastern and western states, several cities, and environmental groups to force the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate emissions of a greenhouse gas???carbon dioxide???that has been linked to global warming.

The justices said they would hear an appeal of a lower court decision that found EPA is not obligated under the Clean Air Act to regulate CO₂ emissions from motor vehicles.

The Bush Administration has argued that CO₂ is not an air pollutant and that EPA lawfully exercised its discretion under the federal law to determine "whether the scientific record is sufficiently well-developed to begin the regulatory process."

The states, cities, and environmentalists, however, maintain that Congress gave EPA authority to regulate emissions of CO₂ and other air pollutants associated with climate change. "This case goes to the heart of EPA's statutory responsibilities to deal with the most pressing environmental problem of our time," the coalition argued in its appeal.

It contends that the Clean Air Act requires EPA to base its decision on whether to regulate greenhouse gases solely on the likelihood of the threat to public health. The law "says not a word about technological judgments ??? or any other of the myriad factors EPA cited in deciding not to regulate," the coalition says.

In 2003, EPA said it could not regulate emissions from new cars and trucks because of "substantial scientific uncertainty" about the effects of climate change on human health and the environment. The agency also insisted that Congress has not given it authority to regulate greenhouse gases, regardless of what the scientific evidence shows.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the agency's decision last year on a 2-to-1 vote. The high court will consider the case when its next term begins in October.