20 October 2005Planetark
Eight states and the city of New York have appealed last month's dismissal of their global warming lawsuit against five of the largest US utilities.
The states originally filed suit against American Electric Power Co. Inc., Southern Co., Xcel Energy Inc., Cinergy Corp. and the Tennessee Valley Authority public power system in July 2004, arguing that greenhouse gas emissions from their plants were a public nuisance and would cause irreparable harm to property.
They asked the US District Court for the Southern District of New York to force the utilities to cut their carbon-dioxide emissions.
However, Judge Loretta Preska dismissed the suit, saying the issue was a political question for Congress or the President to decide, not the judiciary.
The states and New York City submitted a notice of appeal on Sept. 20, notifying the court that they were appealing the case to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
"The district court unfortunately took an erroneously narrow view of its authority, and our hope is that the federal courts will hold these polluting plants accountable for the harm they do to our health and environment," said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal in an interview.
"We're going to continue to fight as long and as hard as is necessary to protect our citizens," he said.
The states involved in the lawsuit are California, Connecticut, Iowa, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.
The utilities are five of the largest carbon dioxide emitters in the United States. Around 40 percent of US carbon dioxide emissions come from fossil-fueled power plants.
Coal-fired power plants emit roughly twice as much carbon dioxide as natural gas-fired plants. Nuclear power plants emit virtually no greenhouse gases.
All five utilities in the suit have a substantial amount of coal generation.
American Electric Power spokesman Pat Hemlepp said the company believes that Judge Preska made the appropriate decision in dismissing the case.
"This is not something to be decided by the courts -- this is purely a policy decision that belongs with elected officials," Hemlepp said. "We're confident that the appeal will show the same thing."
Scientists believe that greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide warm the Earth by trapping solar heat in the atmosphere, which could have catastrophic consequences, including raising sea levels and strengthening extreme weather like hurricanes.
