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The Supreme Court’s Latest Decision Is a Blow to Stopping Climate Change

Union of Concerned Scientists

The majority 6–3 decision sharply curtails the EPA’s authority to set standards based on a broad range of flexible options to cut carbon emissions from the power sector—options such as replacing polluting fossil fuels with cheap and widely available wind and solar power coupled with battery storage. carbon emissions today.

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EPA’s Power Plant Carbon Rules Are Critical—and Complex. Here’s What to Know, and What to Watch.

Union of Concerned Scientists

Multiple lines of analysis make clear that regardless of how cheap wind and solar power get, without directly addressing pollution from coal and gas plants, the country’s clean energy transition will not happen fast enough. Section 111 of the Clean Air Act constrains how EPA sets standards—but gives states wide latitude in implementation.

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Environmentalism and the Supreme Court

Legal Planet

The case involved the lynchpin of the Clean Air Act, EPA’s power to set national air quality standards. The Court then held that greenhouse gases are covered by the Clean Air Act as a type of air pollutant. This gave EPA the power to impose limits on carbon emissions by vehicles and industry.

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Disasters and Environmental Laws – Have We Learned Our Lesson?

Acoel

Take for instance: the burning Cuyahoga River that led to the Clean Water Act; the disastrous air pollution incident in Donora, PA that led to the passage of the Clean Air Act; the discovery of Love Canal that lead to the passage of Superfund; and most tragically, the chemical gas release in Bhopal, India that lead to the passage of EPCRA.

Law 52
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July 2017 Updates to the Climate Case Charts

Law Columbia

Circuit also rejected EPA’s argument that the court did not have authority to review stays issued under Section 307(d)(7)(D) of the Clean Air Act. Fourth Circuit Said West Virginia District Court Lacked Jurisdiction to Consider Coal Companies’ Clean Air Act Jobs Study Lawsuit. DECISIONS AND SETTLEMENTS.

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Environmental Law: Government and Public Policy Towards the Environment

Environmental Science

Acidification : Reducing the pH rating of a substance making it more acidic in nature, for example, increased carbon emissions lead to the oceans absorbing more of it, increasing acidification and damaging ecology such as coral bleaching. 10 years later, the act was modified to include toxic pollutants and funded sewage.

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Climatology: The Science of Global Weather Systems over the Long Term

Environmental Science

The turmoil that followed was political but also showed the lack of resources in societies led to their collapse. Cutting down tree canopies without replacing it passively increases climate change by the simple fact that trees and other vegetation are carbon sinks (15). Yet the evidence only continues to get stronger.