Children v. Big Business

by William S. Becker

On May 11, a group of children will face off against the Obama administration and the National Association of Manufacturers for the latest round of a David vs. Goliath battle in federal court.

The kids filed a lawsuit last year against the administration, arguing that common law requires governments to protect critical natural resources on behalf of current and future generations. In this case, the kids argue, the government has an inherent duty to protect the atmosphere from greenhouse gas emissions, and all of us from the impacts of global climate change.

In their lawsuit, a group called Our Children's Trust filed against a who's who of administration officials including EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Robert Wikins ruled that the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and several California businesses could intervene against the kids, based on the argument that limiting greenhouse gas emissions would lead to a "diminution or cessation of their businesses" -- in other words, jeopardize their profit margins.

Now, NAM and the administration have asked the judge to dismiss the case. That's the motion to be considered in May. 

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Memo to Texas, Alabama & Nebraska: Mind Your Own Business

by William S. Becker

A new poll in California indicates a dead heat among that state’s voters on Proposition 23, the ballot initiative in which out-of-state oil companies are trying to cripple the nation’s most progressive law to combat global climate change.

That law is AB 32.  Proposition 23 would stall its implementation. In the event voters decide to keep AB 32 intact, the attorneys general of at least three states – Texas, Alabama and Nebraska -- say they’re ready to sue California to kill it.  In effect, the three AGs want to prove it’s unconstitutional for a state to decide it won’t purchase dirty energy – for example, coal-fired electricity -- from somewhere else.

California’s voters would be justified defeating Proposition 23 just to send a message to outside agitators to mind their own damn business.  After all, California’s people and their economy have a lot to lose from climate change, including water shortages, wild fires and sea-level rise along the state’s 840 miles of coastline.

For the rest of us, the derailment of AB 32 would be another major loss to the carbon lobby in a year of depressing policy defeats, first in Copenhagen, then in Congress.  By default, the world’s hope for climate leadership from the United States now rests with state and local governments.  Partly as a result of California’s example, more than 30 states are implementing or creating their own climate action plans. The Nov. 2 election, including the outcome of Proposition 23, will affect the political climate for climate action well beyond California. Continued...

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EPA sued over Greenhouse Gas Emissions

by Janet Ritz

Cross-posted on Reuters

A suit against the Environmental Protection Agency has been filed in San Francisco's 9th Circuit Court after the EPA refused to grant California a waiver that would allow the state to establish its own auto emissions standard. As many as sixteen other states (Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Utah and Iowa) may join this latest suit in what has been a long series of legal actions to force the EPA to allow states tougher emissions standards than those dictated by federal law.

California sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday for denying its first-in-the-nation greenhouse gas limits on cars, trucks and SUVs, challenging the Bush administration's conclusion that states have no business setting emission standards. -snip-

In announcing his decision last month, [EPA Administrator] Johnson said the federal government was moving forward with a national solution and dismissed California's arguments that it faced unique threats from climate change. Link.

"There's absolutely no justification for the administrator's action. It's illegal, unconscionable and a gross dereliction of duty." California Attorney General Jerry Brown's statement.

"They [the EPA] are ignoring the will of millions of people who want their government to take action in the fight against global warming," California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's statement. "That's why, at the very first legal opportunity, we're suing to reverse the U.S. EPA's wrong decision" ...

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Auto fuel efficiency bill signed into law

by Janet Ritz
Martin Muse

A bill raising auto fuel standards for the first time in over thirty years was signed by President Bush today, requiring that automobiles average 35 miles per gallon by 2020 and raising federal support for alternative fuel and conservation programs.

It passed by a wide margin in the House, but was stalled momentarily in the Senate when Republicans filibustered out a provision that would have eliminated tax breaks for oil companies and required utility companies to provide a portion of their power from alternative sources.

After which, the head of the Sierra Club referred to the bill as a partial victory and vowed to put through the redacted provisions at a later date.

One area of the bill that has been praised is the instruction to use non-food sources for biofuels (i.e. switch grass and wood chips instead of corn). The other is the raising of the fuel standard itself, which should help to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases currently emitted.

More information here.