California and Other States to Sue EPA over Greenhouse Gases
California intends to sue the U.S. EPA over the Bush administration’s recent decision that the agency doesn’t have the authority to regulate emissions of the greenhouse gases that cause climate change, Gov. Gray Davis (D) announced on Friday. Nine other states, including Illinois, New York, and Washington, are expected to join the suit, which argues that the EPA should have the power to regulate carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases under the federal Clean Air Act. Last year, California passed the nation’s first law aimed at reining in CO2 emissions from cars, and clean-air advocates worry that the administration’s decision could undermine that law. “If the United States is ever going to regulate greenhouse gases, it will start with a victory in this lawsuit,” said David Bookbinder of the Sierra Club, which is backing the suit.
