(220a) The Supreme Court, EPA and the States

This presentation will lay the foundation for the Climate Change regulation presentations that follow. In this first session, the presenter will first address the United States policy regarding climate change, including a brief history of pre-Kyoto efforts, and recent developments in U.S. law. These developments include the United States Supreme Court decision, Massachusetts v. EPA, which involved a petition that the U.S. EPA regulate greenhouse gases from motor vehcles; the status of the State of California's petition for a waiver of the Clean Air Act's prohibition against state emissions standards for motor vehicles to allow California to regulate emissions of greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles; and state programs in California and the Northeast Region to establish carbon dioxide "cap-and-trade" programs. The presenter will summarize the Supreme Court case, EPA's response, how the case impacts EPA's potential regulation of greenhouse gas as a "criteria pollutant" pursuant to the Clean Air Act, and then continue with the current status of greenhouse gas regulation and policy among the states.