US Supreme Court sets date for global warming case oral arguments

Washington (Platts)--2Oct2006

The US Supreme Court on Monday set a date of November 29 for oral
arguments in a global warming case it agreed to hear earlier in 2006.

The plaintiffs in the case -- a coalition of states and environmental
groups -- believe the federal government is obligated under the Clean Air Act
to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide and other so-called greenhouse gases
in order to combat global warming.

The Environmental Protection Agency, the named defendant in the case,
argues, however, that the CAA does not authorize it to regulate the gases as
"pollutants," as the states and environmental groups claim it is. EPA also
argues it would choose not to regulate the emissions as a matter of policy,
even if it did have the authority to do so.

The case began in 1999, during the Clinton administration, when the
states formally petitioned EPA to regulate vehicular greenhouse gas emissions.
EPA may well have done so at that point, because the agency's general counsel
had authored a "legal opinion" the previous year concluding that CO2 was
indeed an "air pollutant" that could be regulated under the Clean Air Act.

With that as a backdrop, EPA launched a lengthy process to consider the
states' petition. The process was still underway when the Bush administration
assumed power in January 2001.

In September 2003, EPA announced that it would not grant the states'
petition to regulate the emissions. As part of that decision, EPA rescinded
the previous, Clinton-era opinion that had designated CO2 as a pollutant.

The states then sued EPA in the US Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia. In July 2005, a three-judge panel ruled 2-1 in favor of EPA.

The states asked the full Court of Appeals to rehear the case, but it
refused. The states then appealed to the Supreme Court. The Bush
administration, the automobile industry and the electric power sector all
urged the justices not to take the case, but on June 26, the high court
announced that it would hear the matter.

The outcome of the case could have major implications for US climate
change policy, and some experts believe it could directly effect electricity
generators as well as the automobile industry.

The states and environmental groups filed papers detailing their legal
arguments in the case in late August. EPA is expected to outline its defense
by October 24.

--Brian Hansen, brian_hansen@platts.com

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