Feds seek to toss states' anti-warming lawsuit
The San Fransico Chronicle
August 27, 2010
To the dismay of environmental groups, the Obama administration has told the U.S. Supreme Court that a global-warming suit by California and seven other states, seeking to require major power companies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, should be dismissed.
In papers filed with the court this week, Justice Department lawyers argued that the authority to curb emissions that cause climate change belongs to the Environmental Protection Agency - which has taken the first steps toward regulating greenhouse gases - and to Congress, where administration-backed legislation is stalled.
The Justice Department also contended that states should be barred from suing private companies for the harm their emissions allegedly cause within state borders. The government said judges have no clear standards for measuring that harm and deciding how to allocate the costs.
Power companies have already asked the court to dismiss the suit. The Obama administration also argued for dismissal but said the high court should wait until an appellate court addressed the issue.
Environmentalists and their allies were alarmed.
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2012