Global Warming in the US Courts

Twelve states, including Massachusetts, and 13 environmental organizations are collectively suing the US Govt. to regulate greenhouse gases as pollutants under the Clean Air Act.

from the NYT article linked above:
"Garre [the lawyer for the Bush administration] also argued that EPA was right not to act given 'the substantial scientific uncertainty surrounding global climate change.'"

from the Earth Charter:
6. Prevent harm as the best method of environmental protection and, when knowledge is limited, apply a precautionary approach.
a. Take action to avoid the possibility of serious or irreversible environmental harm even when scientific knowledge is
incomplete or inconclusive.
b. Place the burden of proof on those who argue that a proposed activity will not cause significant harm, and make
the responsible parties liable for environmental harm.

It seems particularly applicable here, doesn't it?

Here, from a recent op-ed in the Washington Post, is a sobering reflection on the limitations of the Court:

"The tricky legal question is whether the states and environmental groups -- or anyone else, for that matter -- have standing to bring the case. To establish standing, one has to show both that an actual injury has occurred and that winning the case would redress that injury. The problem of climate change is so huge that it creates a paradoxical barrier to litigation: Regulating one relatively small component of the problem -- emissions by new vehicles in the United States -- probably wouldn't do much overall to stop global warming. Depending on how the justices treat this question, the case could peter out.

"That would be frustrating and unfortunate. Nowhere is this administration's resistance to action on global climate change more aggravating than in its persistent refusal to use the legal powers already at hand. What an irony it would be if its lawless inaction survived judicial review because the problem is too big."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/25/AR2006112500634.html