Eleven States take on the EPA...
States Try to Force EPA to Regulate CO2
By NOREEN GILLESPIE, Associated Press Writer
HARTFORD, Conn. - Eleven states asked a federal appeals court Thursday to force the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
The EPA said in August that it lacked authority from Congress to regulate greenhouse gases. It also denied a petition to impose controls on auto emissions.
The states who filed the court petition say the federal Clean Air Act requires the EPA to regulate gases like carbon dioxide.
"What we need is a national solution," Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said. "And that is why we are taking this action today. We are doing so as a last resort."
A message seeking comment was left Thursday with the EPA's media office.
Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly said gases are causing serious environmental and health problems.
"You're seeing the erosion of our beaches. You're seeing salt water contaminate our drinking water. You see damage to our infrastructure, to our roads and our causeways and our bridges," he said.
By refusing to regulate greenhouse gases, the EPA is reversing the position it held during the Clinton administration, the states said.
"The vacuum of leadership on global warming by the Bush administration is a betrayal of the best interests of the American people," New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said.
North Dakota's attorney general, Wayne Stenehjem, said he was considering requests from the coal industry for the state to oppose the lawsuit. Coal mining and electricity production are major industries in North Dakota, and carbon dioxide regulation would make coal-generated electricity more expensive.
The attorneys general of the 11 states are all Democrats; Stenehjem is a Republican.
The states involved in Thursday's court action are Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. California is filing separately.
The action was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
Read John Kerry's Environmental Plan...
States Try to Force EPA to Regulate CO2
By NOREEN GILLESPIE, Associated Press Writer
HARTFORD, Conn. - Eleven states asked a federal appeals court Thursday to force the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
The EPA said in August that it lacked authority from Congress to regulate greenhouse gases. It also denied a petition to impose controls on auto emissions.
The states who filed the court petition say the federal Clean Air Act requires the EPA to regulate gases like carbon dioxide.
"What we need is a national solution," Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said. "And that is why we are taking this action today. We are doing so as a last resort."
A message seeking comment was left Thursday with the EPA's media office.
Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly said gases are causing serious environmental and health problems.
"You're seeing the erosion of our beaches. You're seeing salt water contaminate our drinking water. You see damage to our infrastructure, to our roads and our causeways and our bridges," he said.
By refusing to regulate greenhouse gases, the EPA is reversing the position it held during the Clinton administration, the states said.
"The vacuum of leadership on global warming by the Bush administration is a betrayal of the best interests of the American people," New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said.
North Dakota's attorney general, Wayne Stenehjem, said he was considering requests from the coal industry for the state to oppose the lawsuit. Coal mining and electricity production are major industries in North Dakota, and carbon dioxide regulation would make coal-generated electricity more expensive.
The attorneys general of the 11 states are all Democrats; Stenehjem is a Republican.
The states involved in Thursday's court action are Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. California is filing separately.
The action was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
Read John Kerry's Environmental Plan...
posted by Pamela J. Leavey at 11:33 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home