California To Take EPA To Court Over Greenhouse Issues

In an attempt to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) into action on controlling pollution, the state of California will sue the federal agency for “wantonly” ignoring its duty to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft, ships, agricultural and construction equipment.

State Attorney General Jerry Brown made the announcement on Wednesday, and said details of the lawsuit would be released during a news conference at the Port of Long Beach on Thursday.  

The state must abide by a 180-day waiting period mandated by the Clean Air Act before it can formally file the lawsuit in Washington.

"Ships, aircraft and industrial equipment burn huge quantities of fossil fuel, causing greenhouse gas pollution, yet President (George W.) Bush stalls with one bureaucratic dodge after another," said Brown.

"Because Bush’s Environmental Protection Agency continues to wantonly ignore its duty to regulate pollution, California is forced to seek judicial action," he said.

Brown, a former two-term California governor in the 1970s and 1980s, has long been a strong environmental advocate.  

The state had filed two similar lawsuits earlier this year, in conjunction with other states, related to vehicle emissions and ozone pollution.  In the latest lawsuit, Brown said California would likely be joined by Oregon, Connecticut, New York City, the California Air Resources Board, the South Coast Air Quality Management District and an a number of environmental organizations.

Brown said he was filing the lawsuit after petitioning the agency three times to implement such regulations, efforts he said were met with “pathetically weak” EPA proposals maintaining that public health was not threatened by greenhouse gas emissions.

But EPA spokesman Jonathan Shradar argued that the agency had been "fully responsive" to the petitions, and said that Brown would be better served urging the Democrat-led U.S. Congress into action.

"(The lawsuit) is certainly typical of the attorney general of California," Shradar said.

"If they don’t like how we make a decision on something, they sue and hope the courts will mandate toward their position. It works sometimes and sometimes it doesn’t work," he said.

With the backing of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, California was one of 18 states that sued the agency in April for its failure to limit new-vehicle greenhouse gas emissions after the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled it was within the EPA’s power to do so.

The following month, California joined with 12 other states to sue the agency for violating the Clean Air Act by failing to enact stricter ozone pollution standards.

Congressional Democrats have also been publicly critical of the EPA.  Earlier this week, three Democratic senators, including California’s Barbara Boxer, called on EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson to resign, claiming he had sided with polluters instead of combating global warming and other environmental problems.

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