U.S. Supreme Court Sticks it to G.M.

[hill]

http://breitbart.com/article.php?id=070402...=1&catnum=0

"WAHHHH - We can't make our cars have higher smog standards" cry American (though they're really made in Canada & Mexico) car companies. So they file law suits in order to keep EPA rules at bay, and thier profits higher. That's my take. Poor bloaks ... what will they do now that the supreams tell them that the EPA's got the power?

[Godiva]

Now the question is...can states surpass the minimum EPA requirements.

A State cannot negate it. A State can't undermine the EPA by allowing more pollutants.

So the question is...can the states implement requirements that not only meet EPA but exceed them?

This will be very interesting. The Republicans are all of small government and allowing states to make as many of their own decisions....in theory.

Once this gets to the Supreme Court (which it will) it will be interesting to see how it goes.

To me, it's like the minimum wage. You can't pay anyone any lower than the government says. But you can pay them more.

[hill]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Apr 2 2007, 08:10 PM) [snapback]416719[/snapback]</div>

Now the question is...can states surpass the minimum EPA requirements.

A State cannot negate it. A State can't undermine the EPA by allowing more pollutants.

So the question is...can the states implement requirements that not only meet EPA but exceed them?

This will be very interesting. The Republicans are all of small government and allowing states to make as many of their own decisions....in theory.

Once this gets to the Supreme Court (which it will) it will be interesting to see how it goes.

To me, it's like the minimum wage. You can't pay anyone any lower than the government says. But you can pay them more.
[/b]

This IS the supreme court! That's the beauty of it! The court was ruling in a case brought by 12 states, including California, one U.S. territory, three cities and 13 environmental groups that sought to force the administration to curb greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks.

The argument was that that only the EPA must regulate greenhouse gases -- carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and hydrofluorocarbons -- because the Clean Air Act requires the agency to limit any pollutant that "may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare."

The EPA, prior to this decision, claimed it didn't have the authority to regulate greenhouse gases, and even if it did it wouldn't do so because reducing U.S. vehicle emissions would do little to stem the global rise in greenhouse gases from developing countries like China and India.

So in essence, the Supreme's kicked the EPA in the arse, forcing them in essence to get with the program as it were ... so now, CA and other forward looking states can implement their higher standards. !

[Godiva]

I'm talking about the separate case in California by the automakers, like the Vermont case about states requiring higher standards than EPA. The EPA case leads up to that. The question is how it will affect it.

California and Global Warming

"Brown said the decision vindicates the state's position in global warming lawsuits and also clears the way for California to obtain an EPA waiver to issue state regulations that are stronger than any federal rules."

"In one lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, the state is suing the world's six largest automakers on a claim that auto pollution that contributes to climate change is a public nuisance.

In another case in Fresno, automakers are challenging a recent California law that would limit tailpipe emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases beginning in 2009."

"California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he was "very encouraged by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision today that greenhouse gases are pollutants and should be regulated by the federal government."

"We expect the EPA to move quickly now in granting our request for a waiver, which will allow California and 13 other states that have adopted our standards to set tougher vehicle emissions levels," Schwarzenegger said. "And we remain hopeful that the EPA will soon determine, as California has, that vehicle greenhouse gases must be reduced.""