Isra-Mart srl:US states accuse polluting power stations of "public nuisance"

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Isra-Mart srl news:

Six American states and the city of New York have this week urged the Supreme Court to uphold their right to sue five of the most polluting utilities and force them to reduce carbon emissions, on the grounds their power stations are causing a "public nuisance" by releasing greenhouse gases into the air.

New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced on Monday he had filed a brief on behalf of New York, California, Connecticut, Iowa, Rhode Island, Vermont states and New York City, arguing electrical utilities are causing a public nuisance and as such can be forced to curb emissions.

Schneiderman's office said this is the first case where state and local governments have sued private companies to require reductions in CO2 emissions.

In a statement, he said the lawsuit was aimed at protecting people and the environment from damage caused by greenhouse gases. "As some of the biggest global warming polluters in the country, these five companies produce 10 per cent of the nation's CO2 emissions," he said. "To protect our future, we must have the right to hold these polluters accountable in a court of law."

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) currently has the power under the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and is in the process of introducing rules that would require carbon-intensive firms to gradually curb emissions.

The companies named in the law suit – American Electric Power, the Southern Company, Xcel Energy, the Cinergy Corporation and the Tennessee Valley Authority – have argued that the EPA is working on its own emissions regulations and as such the public nuisance lawsuit should be shelved until the agency's rules come into effect.

However, the EPA's emissions rules are proving highly controversial and are currently facing a multi-pronged attack from Republicans and business groups who are attempting to pass a new bill that would strip the watchdog of the right to introduce any regulations relating to climate change.

If Schneiderman's lawsuit is successful, the landmark case could provide an alternative route for states to force companies to limit CO2 emissions even if Republicans are successful in overturning or delaying the EPA's rules.

The case, named American Electric Power Co., Inc. v. Connecticut, began in 2004 when several states, New York City, and green groups sued the five power companies in federal court to force them to reduce emissions from their fossil fuel-burning power plants.

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the states' right to bring the lawsuit in 2009, but the power companies appealed the case to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments next month, and is expected to decide the case by July.