Clean Air Act Regulations Upheld
On Tuesday, a Washington, D.C. federal appeals court upheld EPA's finding that greenhouse gases are a threat to public health and should therefore be regulated. The Washington Post has the story:
The opponents, including Virginia’s attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli II (R), argued that EPA rules setting emissions standards for cars and light trucks, and requiring construction and operating permits for the nation’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases, such as coal-fired power plants, were based on a faulty interpretation of the Clean Air Act, and therefore capricious and heavy handed.
But the court rejected the challenge, calling EPA's interpretation "unambiguously correct." In particular, the judges scorned the opponents' complaint that EPA relied on climate science to make a decision about… climate science. In an amusingly sarcastic opinion, the court said, "This is how science works. EPA is not required to re-prove the existence of the atom every time it approaches a scientific question."