In a narrow 5-4 decision (the usual cast of characters – Roberts, Alito, Thomas and Scalia dissenting) the Supreme Court ruled today that the EPA, under the Clean Air Act does indeed have the authority to regulate the amount of CO2 emissions produced by automobiles. This was a stinging rebuke to Bush administration policy.
There were three questions before the court as they deliberated the case:
_Do states have the right to sue the EPA to challenge its decision?
_Does the Clean Air Act give EPA the authority to regulate tailpipe emissions of greenhouse gases?
_Does EPA have the discretion not to regulate those emissions?
On the first two questions they answered in the affirmative. On the last, they ordered the EPA to “re-evaluate the position that it has the discretion to not regulate tailpipe emissions.”
Five justices said the agency must tie its rationale more closely to the Clean Air Act.
"EPA has offered no reasoned explanation for its refusal to decide whether greenhouse gases cause or contribute to climate change," Stevens said. He was joined by his liberal colleagues, Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter, and the court's swing voter, Justice Anthony Kennedy.
This is a huge step toward coming to grips with the looming threat of global warming.
After all, if you don’t deal with reality, reality will deal with you.
