The Enviro “Coalition of the Seething” Won’t Be Pleased
Here’s a story about a ruling by a judge who knows the judiciary’s place (HT Porkopolis):
ALBANY, N.Y. — A lawsuit filed by eight states aimed at cutting carbon dioxide emissions from some of the country’s largest power producers was dismissed by a federal judge Thursday.
The states, including New York, sued five companies that own 174 fossil fuel-burning power plants, claiming that they contribute to the problem of global warming.
But U.S. District Court Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan said that in asking the court to set CO2 reductions, the states want the judiciary to craft wide-ranging environmental policies that would affect the economy, national security and foreign policy. She said such “political” decisions should properly be considered by the president and Congress.
“Cases presenting political questions are consigned to the political branches that are accountable to the people, not to the judiciary,” Preska wrote.
Imagine that.
Of course the crybaby Attorneys General, including gubernatorial wannabes Elliot Spitzer of New York and Bill Lockyer of California, will appeal, but (excuse the expression) what a breath of fresh air from the bench.
FYI: The companies sued were American Electric Power Co., Southern Co., Xcel Energy Inc., Cinergy Corp., the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Why is “Coalition of the Seething” in the post title? It’s a great tag given to the enviros by Tim Ball at Tech Central Station (bolds are mine), whose last two sentences in the passage below make up the Quote of the Day:
The banner “STOP CLIMATE CHAOS” was unfurled in London earlier in September to announce a new coalition of eighteen social and environmental groups including Greenpeace, Oxfam, WWF, Friends of the Earth, People and Planet. What the banner should say is “STOP THE POLITICAL EXPLOITATION OF CLIMATE CHAOS”.
The coalition is a desperate collective response to the collapse of Kyoto, cynically coincident with hurricane Katrina. It’s a response to the view that the G8 nations didn’t listen or act properly; to the better and more workable plans of the US energy policy; and to the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development that includes 45% of the world’s population. The environment and especially global warming are seen as an opportunity to defeat the democratic, free trade, and capitalist view of the world. The battle for a single worldview is being won but not as anticipated.
Thanks to the Tony Blair-driven death of The Kyoto Treaty, and while the desperate AGs look around for an appellate judge who might ignore The Constitution and overturn Ms. Preska, the world’s program of economic growth, the best and surest way to lift the greatest number of the world’s people out of poverty, can now resume.
