NAM: Supreme Court Should Reject Case on Global Wa
Washington, DC, November 30, 2006--Responding to the Supreme Court case concerning the threat of global warming, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) stressed that individuals and states do not have legal standing to force the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate without congressional authorization.
The states that sued EPA in Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. EPA contend that the agency should attempt to regulate CO2 emissions for automobiles under the Clean Air Act. Noting that CO2 is a common and naturally occurring gas, NAM vice president of Litigation Quentin Riegel said that “Congress has enacted several laws to begin to address the global warming debate, but the Clean Air Act is not one of them.”
Riegel noted further that, as the Clean Air Act was created to ensure safe air quality, “applying the Act to CO2 emissions requires clear evidence that Congress intended it that way. The EPA should not be in the business of trying to tackle an issue of that magnitude with a piecemeal approach.”
“If we ever reach consensus that global warming can be solved with a regulatory program, then Congress in conjunction with other international governing bodies should be involved,” NAM vice president of Energy Resources Policy Keith McCoy added. “The issue is global, and a one-sided solution from U.S. regulators will only hurt American business, our competitiveness, and jobs.”
In October, the NAM was part of an industry group that filed an amicus brief in the case. A full copy of the NAM amicus brief is available at www.nam.org/briefs.
