Vermont Attorney General Urges EPA To Act On Climate Change Ruling From Supreme Court

January 23, 2008 - Vermont Attorney General William H. Sorrell announced today that he has joined with the Attorneys General from 16 other states, the Corporation Counsel for the City of New York, and the City Solicitor for Baltimore in sending a letter to Stephen L. Johnson, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to urge EPA to act in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA. Click here to view the letter.

On April 2, 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that EPA had the authority to regulate greenhouse gases (GHG) under the Clean Air Act. The Court also found that EPA had “offered no reasoned explanation for its refusal to decide whether greenhouse gases cause or contribute to climate change” and ordered it to revisit its decision not to regulate GHGs. Since that time, EPA announced that it would move forward with GHG regulations by the end of 2007, but it has not acted.

“We are very concerned about EPA’s failure to act in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling,” Attorney General Sorrell said. “It has been ten months since the ruling, and EPA should stop dragging its feet. EPA needs to exercise its regulatory authority.”

Joining Vermont in signing today’s letter are: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington, along with the Corporation Counsel for the City of New York and the City Solicitor for Baltimore.

Source: Vermont Attorney General

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