Mass. VS EPA

It will take a couple years before anything can come of it but a victory none the less.


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...p;type=politics

The court had three questions before it.


_Do states have the right to sue the EPA to challenge its decision?


_Does the Clean Air Act give EPA the authority to regulate tailpipe emissions of greenhouse gases?


_Does EPA have the discretion not to regulate those emissions?


The court said yes to the first two questions. On the third, it ordered EPA to re-evaluate its contention it has the discretion not to regulate tailpipe emissions. The court said the agency has so far provided a "laundry list" of reasons that include foreign policy considerations.


The majority said the agency must tie its rationale more closely to the Clean Air Act.


"EPA has offered no reasoned explanation for its refusal to decide whether greenhouse gases cause or contribute to climate change," Stevens said. He was joined by his liberal colleagues, Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter, and the court's swing voter, Justice Anthony Kennedy.