California Set to Sue EPA on CO2 Emissions, Source Says
Date: 22-Sep-03
Country: USA
The source said the lawsuit would be filed in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington D.C., possibly as early as next week.
A spokesman for Lockyer had no immediate comment.
Last year attorney generals from 11 U.S. states, including Lockyer, called for the Bush administration to rethink its response to climate change and enact a cap on greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.
Global warming is thought to be caused by the atmospheric buildup of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide emissions mostly come from the burning of fossil fuels with cars and power plants among the major sources.
The White House has sought voluntary cutbacks in emissions, arguing mandatory reductions could cripple the U.S. economy.
Attorney Generals from Maine, Massachusetts and Connecticut subsequently filed a federal lawsuit in June which argued that the EPA has a mandatory duty to regulate carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act.
The states are seeking to have carbon dioxide designated as a "criteria pollutant" under the Clean Air Act.
The current criteria pollutants, designated as hazardous to human health and subject to EPA standards, are carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen oxides, ozone, particulate matter and sulfur oxides.
