Newsflash! Greenhouses Gases Are Pollutants

Aren't you shocked at the revelation? For all this time I thought it was healthy to inhale the fumes coming out of the cars on the street. All snarking aside, this is good news because it was the Supreme Court that realized this and made a ruling forcing the EPA to re-examine their refusal to regulate greenhouses gases. The 5-4 decision did not mandate regulations (this is the Roberts court ya know?) but at least it is a step in the right direction.

From The Boston Globe:

The case, brought by 12 states and 13 environmental groups and argued by the Massachusetts Attorney General's office, is the high court's first decision on global warming and is expected to have far-reaching implications for regulating greenhouse gases in the United States.

"In short, EPA has offered no reasoned explanation for its refusal to decide whether greenhouse gases cause or contribute to climate change," Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the majority.

The EPA had argued that the Clean Air Act did not give it authority to regulate greenhouse gases in part because of "substantial scientific uncertainty" about its harm to human health and the environment.

The EPA and the Bush Administration may try to live in a state of forced delusion over the moral debate over climate change, but this is no longer a political debate. Even the Supreme Court sees it as such, despite its heavy conservative leanings. It is time for the EPA to do their job and help cut greenhouses gas emissions.