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Marine Conservation Leaders Urge U.S. Supreme Court to Require Federal Greenhouse Gas Regulation

Posted on: Wednesday, 6 September 2006, 15:00 CDT

Ewire -- Thirteen major marine conservation advocates have urged the United States Supreme Court to rule that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is both authorized and required to regulate greenhouse gases.

In a "friend of the court" brief, the petitioning organizations declared that the greenhouse gases -- carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and hydrofluorocarbons -- present a more profound threat to human health and welfare than anything else currently regulated under the Clean Air Act.

The Amici Curiae brief supports the position held by petitioners against the EPA for failure to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, a significant contributor to the ever-increasing problem of global warming. The parties in the petition to the Supreme Court included the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the states of California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington in addition to environmental groups, the union of concerned scientists, and three cities. The suit maintains that the EPA has a duty to regulate carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act. The case marks the first time that states have sued the federal government over global warming issues.

The State Attorneys General of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Maine who filed one of the original suits later consolidated into the case now before the Supreme Court, Mass et al v. EPA, have called EPA's inaction on carbon dioxide "intolerable -- a dangerous disservice to the nation." Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said, "Our lawsuit is a last resort. Even after abundant opportunity and public urging, the EPA steadfastly refuses to enforce the law and protect the public. It has repeatedly acknowledged its authority, but it has persistently failed its obligation to use that authority. Now the courts must compel it."

For the full release please click on the following link: http://www.ewire.com/display.cfm/Wire_ID/3335

 Jim Power Director of Communications Save Our Sound Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound Tel: 508.775.9767 Contact via http://www.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct?id=7AABBC072453D7BB  

SOURCE: Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound

Source: MARKET WIRE

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