California joins 8-state lawsuit to fight utilities' global-warming gases
By Chris Bowman, The Sacramento Bee, Calif. -- July 21
California, seven other states and New York City together plan to launch the first major attack on emitters of global warming gases today in a lawsuit that demands big cuts in the climate-altering exhausts from the nation's five largest power suppliers.
"Global warming is real," said Tom Dresslar, spokesman for
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer. "The severe threat it poses to
our states is real, and the attorneys general are going to be taking needed
action to address that threat. We can't afford to wait."
Officials with Lockyer's office would not discuss details of the lawsuit,
saying only that the action would be filed in Manhattan federal district court.
A draft press statement from the attorneys general obtained by The Bee said
the suit demands "substantial cuts in the heat-trapping carbon dioxide
emissions," but does not ask for monetary compensation.
The draft release, dated July 16 for release today, was provided by a
representative of American Electric Power Co. of Columbus, Ohio. Lockyer's
office did not dispute the authenticity of the document.
The company is named as one of the defendants, along with Cinergy Corp. of
Cincinnati, Southern Co. of Atlanta, Xcel Energy Inc. of Minneapolis, and the
Tennessee Valley Authority, headquartered in Knoxville, according to the press
release.
One industry representative familiar with the lawsuit called it
"frivolous," and he responded in kind.
"Given that every human being emits carbon dioxide every day, the next
thing we anticipate from these attorneys general is a collective demand to hold
our breath," said Scott Segal, director of the Electric Reliability
Coordinating Council, an industry advocacy group opposed to government
restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
Together, the five power companies own about 200 power plants in the United
States, emitting from combustion of coal or natural gas a combined 646 tons of
carbon dioxide each year -- almost a quarter of the electrical industry's annual
carbon dioxide emissions.
The industry emits about 40 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions from
human activity in the United States, according to the federal Environmental
Protection Agency.
The states planning the lawsuit are California, Connecticut, Iowa, New
Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin. The chief attorney for
New York City joined in the action.
Industry representatives noted that none of the targeted power companies owns
plants in these states.
"These attorneys general appear more concerned with regional economic
competition than real environmental improvement," Segal said.
California does not regulate global-warming emissions from its electricity
plants or other businesses.
The state, however, pioneered the nation's first law cutting tailpipe
exhausts linked to global warming.
The law, enacted in 2002, requires major auto manufacturers to limit these
gases from passenger vehicles sold in California. Proposed rules call for
imposing restrictions that would add an average of $780 to the price of a car,
beginning with 2009 models and gradually increasing the reductions through 2015.
As with the California law, the planned multistate lawsuit is unusual in that
it targets emissions that are not hazardous to breathe but are believed by most
scientists to trap the Earth's heat, like the panels of a greenhouse. This
"greenhouse effect" raises the atmospheric temperature, which can lead
to changes in sea levels, water supplies and crop production.
In California, one of the anticipated effects of greatest concern is the
whittling away of the Sierra snowpack, leading to diminished water supplies,
increased runoff and flooding in the Central Valley and a shorter ski season.
Scientists also project more frequent wildfires, worsened smog and
contamination of water delivered to 20 million Californians because of seawater
intrusion in the draw of the giant Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta pumps.
The press release from the attorneys general said the solutions to curbing
greenhouse gases from power plants are "readily available." They
include switching from coal to cleaner-burning fuels, improving combustion
efficiency and increasing use of wind and solar power.
On their Web sites, all of the five power companies tout research and
investments to cut plant emissions.
Targeting operations of only the five will be ineffective, said Melissa
McHenry, spokeswoman for American Electrical Power Co., the largest electricity
supplier in the country.
"Filing lawsuits is not a way to solve this," McHenry said Tuesday.
"It's a global issue that can't be addressed by a small group of
companies."
The attorneys general are suing under the federal common law of public
nuisance, "which provides a right of action to curb air and water pollution
emanating from sources in other states," according to the draft press
release.
Electrical industry representatives argue that the greenhouse gases are not
"pollutants," as defined in the federal Clean Air Act. Lockyer's
office has sued the EPA under the current Bush administration for taking the
same stance.
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