Supreme Court Case on Global Warming
Statement of Joseph Mendelson, Legal Director
International Center for Technology Assessment

Tomorrow's oral argument at the United State Supreme Court in Massachusetts, et al v. EPA marks the culmination of a seven plus year effort by the International Center for Technology Assessment (CTA) to have the nation's lead environmental agency - EPA - take concrete action to reduce the air pollution emissions causing the world's leading environmental problem - global warming.

Over seven years ago, CTA petitioned the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles under the Clean Air Act. Ever since, the Bush Administration has been engaged in a legal rope-a-dope designed to avoid action. As the science makes clearer each day, the Administration's denial of our petition has caused real damage in the fight against global warming. The delay in responding to our efforts has allowed U.S. emissions to grow and the impacts of climate change to go unaddressed. Global warming emissions have already been linked to stronger hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, and worsened air pollution. If left unchecked, global warming will increasingly cause rising sea levels, the loss of species, and a host of other environmental problems that are already seriously affecting the lives of virtually every American.

The legal issues before the Court are clear. Under the Clean Air Act, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicle are "air pollutants" reasonably anticipated to endanger public health and welfare. And the Act was written to include a mandate for action against air pollutants that affect "climate."

We are confident the Court will read the text of the statute, and conclude what we all already know - EPA's refusal to address global warming has no legal merit and the time to act can be delayed no longer.

By ruling in a manner consistent with the Clean Air Act, the Supreme Court can usher in a new era in the fight to tackle global warming. . . an era where mandatory action to combat global warming becomes the law of the land and attempts to delay action through legal contortions are no longer tolerated.

Case chronology and legal briefs available at: