Media release - November 29, 2006
Today, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on the first global warming case to reach the High Court. Greenpeace is one of the original petitioners in Massachusetts vs. the Environmental Protection Agency, 05-1120, which calls on the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant and seeks to reduce emissions from new vehicles.
The Bush Administration has argued that EPA lacks the authority
to regulate CO2 as a pollutant, but with a Democratic Congress set
to take control in January, political pressure is building for the
Administration to substantively address the issue.
Twelve states, four environmental groups and three cities are
plaintiffs in the case. Led by Massachusetts, the states include:
California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico,
New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. The cities
involved are Baltimore, New York, and the District of Columbia. The
Pacific Island of America Samoa is also a plaintiff. Environmental
groups include: Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, the Sierra Club
and the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Greenpeace is also a plaintiff in another global warming lawsuit
against the Bush Administration. Filed in August of 2002,
Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, and four cities have charged that
the Export-Import Bank (Ex-IM) and the Oversees Private Investment
Corporation (OPIC) have illegally provided $32 billion in financing
and insurance for oil fields, pipelines and coal-fired power
plants. For over ten years, the agencies have been funding projects
without assessing their contribution to global warming, or their
impact on the U.S. environment as required under the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The cities of Oakland, Arcata and
Santa Monica, Calif. and Boulder, Colo. are parties to the suit. In
August of 2005, a federal judge in the U.S. District for Northern
California ruled against the Bush Administration, allowing the
lawsuit to proceed.
Other contacts: Contact: Jane Kochersperger, (202) 319-2493; (202) 680-3798 cell