The US Supreme Court is going to review whether or not the EPA has the authority to regulate “greenhouse gas” emissions from stationary sources such as power plants and oil refineries. The Court will hear arguments and will probably provide a ruling by June of next year. Unfortunately, the Court rejected the request to also review their 2007 Massachusetts v EPA decision that gave the EPA the authority to regulate greenhouse emissions from mobile sources, e.g., autos if they found that greenhouse gases were a public health concern. The Liberals on the Court were joined in 2007, by Justice Kennedy, giving the EPA the licenses to regulate by a 5 to 4 vote.
The EPA, using the IPCC Assessment Report #4 (AR4) as their scientific authority, found in December 2009 that these gases were a public health concern.(Surprise,{sarc}) They rejected any scientific assessment that did not coincide with that of the IPCC. Because of the bizarre trail of the IPCC AR reports, any finding that relies on the IPCC science is indeed suspect.
The Supreme Court’s decision was an enormous overreach because the US Congress had considered and specifically rejected inclusion of CO2 in the Clear Air Act when it was authorized in 1970 and did not add CO2 in subsequent revisions made in 1977 and 1990. In June 2009, six months before the EPA announced their finding that CO2 was a hazard, Congress rejected legislation to regulate CO2 through a system of “cap and trade”. The Supreme Court’s decision amounted to legislation, which, by the Constitution of the US, is left entirely to Congress, the legislative branch.
The cost of energy to the US citizens will begin a dramatic increase and the industry of will decline if the EPA is allowed to regulate emissions from stationary sources. If you need any evidence of what over zealous green regulations can cause, look at what is happening in Europe. The likes of Germany, Italy, Spain, Great Brittan, Poland, etc. that implemented greenhouse gas legislation have found that energy has become intolerably expensive for their citizens and is causing industry to leave the country in order to avoid bankruptcy. See discussions on how the green regulations are no longer seen as a good thing by the people in Europe by clicking here, here, here, here, and here.
There will be arguments before the Court. If you come across a way to support those arguing to rein in the EPA, please go for it.
cbdakota
Climate Change Sanity 