This is a sequel to the SustainabiliTank.info article of June 27, 2006 - “Green Mail From The UK Greens,” that announced the fight in the US for bringing CO2 before the US Supreme Court.

The Boston Globe believes now that THE SUPREME COURT’S announcement Monday that it would decide whether the federal government can be required to limit greenhouse gas emissions offers hope that the nation’s foot-dragging on action against global warming might finally end. The last court that ruled on the suit to force action by the US Environmental Protection Agency backed the agency’s refusal to regulate the chief greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide. If the Supreme Court had let that ruling stand, the EPA could continue to be a bench-sitter in the effort to curb climate change.

It is true that the 1970 Clean Air Act does not mention carbon dioxide as an air pollutant, but that’s because few scientists at the time were focusing on the impact that heat-trapping emissions could have on the planet. Scientists now are very concerned.

One report after another, including one last week by a panel convened by the National Academy of Science, leaves little doubt that the Earth will be a radically different planet if carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases continue to collect in the atmosphere. Widely dispersed carbon dioxide emissions are not a threat to an individual’s health the way pollutants like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide are, but climate change’s rising sea levels, changed precipitation patterns, and expanding habitats for mosquitoes and other disease-carrying pests could be extremely harmful to mankind’s well-being.

Massachusetts is one of 12 states, three cities, and several environmental advocacy groups that have brought the suit against EPA. A favorable verdict in this case would help another coalition of states, led by California and also including Massachusetts, to set limits on carbon dioxide emissions by cars and trucks. That initiative faces opposition from the auto industry.

The suit to force action by the EPA on greenhouse gases would not have been necessary if President Bush had stuck to his campaign pledge in 2000 to regulate carbon dioxide. Once he was in office, he reversed himself and decided that any limits on emissions would be voluntary. Since then, US greenhouse emissions have continued to increase, now making up about 30 percent of the global total.

In their suit, Massachusetts and the rest of its coalition can point to wording in the Clean Air Act that refers to the EPA’s authority to regulate any air pollutants endangering public health and welfare, with climate specifically cited as part of welfare. The Supreme Court should stand by that wording and force the federal government at long last to accept its responsibility. By doing so, this country can then help push China, India, and other emerging industrial powers to address this threat as well.