Quality Weenie

States Appeal to Supreme Court on CO2 Emisions.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A dozen U.S. states appealed to the Supreme Court on Friday on a case that seeks to force the U.S. government to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from cars and trucks, an environmental group said.

The states, three cities including New York, and several green groups had sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to regulate the car emissions most scientists link to global warming.

Last August the full bench of the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., the nation's second-highest court, denied a request to hear the case in a 4 to 3 decision.

Earlier, that court had ruled 2 to 1 that the U.S. government does not have to regulate carbon dioxide emissions spewed from cars and trucks.

The court did not decide central questions on whether EPA has the authority to regulate global warming pollution, or the agency's claim that carbon dioxide is not a pollutant.

The EPA had said in 2003 that global warming has risks, but it could not regulate greenhouse gas emissions because Congress had not granted it authority to do so under the federal Clean Air Act.

Friday's petition claims the EPA unjustifiably concluded that the Clean Air Act does not provide it authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, according to John Stanton, Vice President for the National Environmental Trust.

The petition says a review by the Supreme Court "is necessary to prevent the (EPA) from continuing to claim that a decision of this Court prevents it from taking regulatory action to address climate change," according to Stanton.

Passenger cars, pickup trucks and SUVs account for 20 percent of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, with power plants responsible for 40 percent.

*rant on*

So let's look at this realistically and say the gobberment regulates CO2 in cars and demands that automanufacturers cut the emissions.

The auto manufacturer's are going to raise the price of cars, because it's going to cost more to research and manufacture those kinds of engines, etc. So you will be paying more for your vehicle.

They can't demand a huge decrease, so even an unrealistic cut of 50% will bring that down to 10% emissions from cars. That isn't a huge decrease in CO2 emissions from the air.

I mean the power plants are spewing out 40% and I don't see the "green groups" bitching about the power plants or in fact they are not bitching about anything else that spews CO2. What about other gas engines like motorcycles, or lawnmowers or snowblowers, etc.

Why are the "green groups" not bitching about anything else that spews CO2?

Because "green groups" hate SUV's and Trucks. They feel everyone should be driving electric, milkbox sized cars.

Excuse me while I take my SUV loving white hairy ass out to spew some greenhouse gas.

*rant off*

Posted by Quality Weenie at March 3, 2006 03:13 PM | TrackBack