Thursday, April 21, 2011

Who can force utilities to cut greenhouse gases? Supreme Court to decide


The Supreme Court hears a case Tuesday about greenhouse gases and global warming. Case could open the way for states and citizen groups to battle the threat of global warming via judicial order.

Fed up with the slow pace of government efforts to address global warming, a group of conservationists and state attorneys general filed lawsuits in 2004 asking a federal judge to order five major US power companies to cap and then reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide.

Seven years later, the case arrives at the US Supreme Court, where the justices must decide whether concerned citizens and state officials have the legal power to force suspected polluters to cut their alleged level of pollution – though the federal government itself has not yet taken action on carbon emissions.

See full Article.