Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
Originally Posted by Mad_Hatter
Originally Posted by Saabist
Carbon footprint is not a concern since CO2 is not a pollutant.
Not according to the EPA and the US Supreme Court, which ruled in favour of the EPA during the Bush administration in 2007 that CO2 met the scientific definition of a "pollutant" and can be regulated.
Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency (2007)
It was the State of Massachusetts which argued that CO2 was a pollutant. The EPA (Under the Bush Administration.) argued it was not and lost in a 5-4 decision. It wasn't until the next Administration that the EPA began to regulate CO2. IJS
Just to clarify the legal point made here, as that is what I am interested in, not whether CO2 is a pollutant- only the EPA specified that CO2 is a pollutant, not the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court can not make a finding of fact on such issues. The Supreme Court in this capacity is not a fact-finding court, it only has appellate jurisdiction - meaning they review the law, not the facts.
In Mass. v. EPA, the Supreme Court was reviewing the EPA authority to not make a regulation under the Clean Air Act for CO2. The Bush EPA said that they did not have authority under the statute to regulate CO2, and therefore they did not regulate. However, it was shown, through evidence introduced in the district court (which is the fact finder) that CO2 was an air pollutant. Therefore, because CO2 was a pollutant, and the EPA chose to not regulate it - without explanation - which was a violation on the Clean Air Act, the Court held that when the "EPA rejected the rulemaking petition based on impermissible considerations. Its action was therefore "arbitrary, capricious, or otherwise not in accordance with law," §7607(d)(9). On remand, EPA must ground its reasons for action or inaction in the statute."