Congressional Republicans Ask Court To Toss Climate Case

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Republicans ask court to toss climate case

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Republicans Upton and Inhofe have submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court.
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CloseBy ROBIN BRAVENDER
2/7/11 7:40 PM EST

Two top House Republicans and the Senate’s leading global warming skeptic asked the Supreme Court Monday to throw out a lawsuit seeking to force electric utilities to slash greenhouse gas emissions.



House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.), his energy lieutenant Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) and Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) submitted an amicus brief Monday in the high-profile American Electric Power v. Connecticut case.



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The lawmakers urged the judges to reverse a lower court ruling that allowed states and environmental groups to move ahead with a public “nuisance” lawsuit seeking to force the utilities to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.



“[C]ourts are not equipped to make judgments about the appropriate emissions standards for utilities located throughout the country,” the lawmakers wrote. “Judicial establishment of such standards would violate decades of Supreme Court precedent and unconstitutionally interfere with Congressional and Executive branch efforts to address climate change-related matters.”



American Electric Power Co., Duke Energy, Southern Co., Xcel Energy Inc. and the Tennessee Valley Authority asked the high court to review the case after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled in 2009 that states and environmentalists could move forward with their “nuisance” lawsuit. Eight states, New York City and environmental groups sued the utilities in 2004 over their heat-trapping emissions.



Attorneys for the utilities have argued that nuisance lawsuits targeting power plants are the wrong way to tackle global warming. The Obama administration also asked the high court to reverse the ruling, arguing that the Environmental Protection Agency is moving forward with efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions and that the nuisance claims would be better handled by legislation or regulations than by the courts.



Obama administration attorneys say EPA was already moving forward with efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, which undercut the need for nuisance lawsuits. But while the agency has announced plans to limit greenhouse gas emissions from older facilities, the agency hasn’t finalized those rules.



Upton, Inhofe and Whitfield are also working to block the executive branch from regulating greenhouse gases. The trio unveiled draft legislation earlier this month to strip EPA of its authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.



David Doniger, a climate attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council representing environmentalists in the case, called the lawmakers’ request to the court ironic, given the fact that they are also seeking to block the administration’s climate rules.



“If Upton’s and Inhofe’s legislation would pass, EPA wouldn’t be allowed to use the Clean Air Act, the Clean Air Act would be revoked, and that would mean that the states have no remedy other than this federal common law remedy,” he said, which they are also trying to upend.



The court is expected to hear oral arguments in the case this spring.







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