Clean Cars Campaign Provides Resource Materials for Supreme Court Landmark Global Warming Case

WASHINGTON, D.C.--This week, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a landmark global warming case, Massachusetts v. EPA. This case will decide whether the Clean Air Act authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate the pollution that causes global warming.

In contrast to previous EPA legal opinions, the Bush administration has argued that EPA does not have authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate global warming pollution. Challenging this position is a coalition of nearly 30 states, cities, and environmental organizations. (A complete list of these petitioners, a primer on the arguments in the case and legal documents related to the case can be found by going to www.cleancarscampaign.org and clicking on “Court Action.”

This decision will not only determine whether EPA has the authority to regulate global warming emissions, it will also have a direct bearing on the eleven states across the country that have adopted global warming tailpipe emissions standards for cars and trucks. Under the Clean Air Act, states may decide to adopt the California tailpipe emissions standards in lieu of the federal standards. California has adopted regulations that would reduce fleet-wide global warming emissions from new vehicles by 25 percent in model year 2009, rising to a 30 percent reduction in model year 2016.