Warming Law

New CRC Article on Mass. v. EPA

CRC's Tim Dowling and Jennifer Bradley have prepared a comprehensive, plain English analysis of Mass. v. EPA that will appear in the August 2007 issue of the American Planning Association's magazine, Planning and Environmental Law. The piece is reprinted with permission here.

New California Air Resources Board Leader

As we reported earlier this week, the California Air Resources Board, the body responsible for implementing California's ground-breaking clean air regulations, has been in an uproar. Tuesday, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger named a new head for Air Resources Board, Mary Nichols, an environmental lawyer and frequent Democratic appointee to critical environmental posts--including the Air Resources Board, which she chaired from 1978 to 1983, as an appointee of Gov. Jerry Brown.

The San Jose Mercury News' story is here, and the Sacramento Bee coverage is here.

Update on D.C. Cir. Challenge to GHG rules

As we previously reported, on May 2 the State, municipal, and environmental Petitioners in New York v. EPA filed a motion for a remand back to EPA so the agency can reconsider (in light of Mass. v. EPA) its refusal to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants and other stationary sources.

On June 18, EPA filed its response. It agrees that the court should remand the case, but disagrees with the Petitioners' contention that the court should vacate or reverse agency action taken to date. The agency argues that reversal is not necessary or appropriate because 1) the rule should remain in place while the agency reconsiders its position on greenhouse gases, and 2) although Mass. v. EPA is relevant to the scope of EPA's authority over greenhouse pollution, it is not necessarily controlling on the question of whether EPA has such authority under section 111 of the Act, which governs the rule at issue.

Industry intervenors also filed a submission on June 18, agreeing with the other parties that a remand is warranted, but (like EPA) disagreeing with the Petitioners that summary reversal is appropriate.

Petitioners filed a reply on June 28. We'll keep you updated.

Mayhem Over CA Warming Rules

From the July 3 SanFran Chronicle

"Democratic state lawmakers are questioning Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's commitment to fight global warming after the governor's top deputies thwarted an attempt by the state's air quality regulators to enact their own measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The executive director of the California Air Resources Board, Catherine Witherspoon, resigned Monday -- three days after Schwarzenegger fired the board's chairman, Robert Sawyer, who had said he wanted to be more aggressive in curbing pollution that causes global warming than does the Republican governor, who signed the state's landmark bill last year.

Sawyer, a 72-year-old engineer, made public on Monday a transcript of a voice mail, left on his phone by one of Schwarzenegger's aides before the air board's meeting last month, urging the chairman to adopt only the three rules acceptable to the governor. "

more from the SF Chronicle here

L.A. Times coverage here and here