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Supreme Environmental Tyranny

HT: Drudge Report

AFP reports that the Supreme Court has ruled that the EPA must consider greenhouse gases as pollutants. The Court ruled 5-4, Kennedy swinging leftward. Orin Kerr has commentary at the Volokh Conspiracy:

The Supreme Court handed down its decision in the “global warming” case, Massachusetts v. EPA, and it looks like a significant victory for environmental interests. Stevens managed to keep Kennedy on board, so it was a 5-4 ruling that will make the EPA go back and reconsider the petition to regulate greenhouse gases.

There were two forceful dissents filed in the case. Chief Justice Roberts dissented on standing, joined by Scalia, Thomas, and Alito. Justice Scalia dissented on the merits, joined by Roberts, Thomas, and Alito.

Whether or not you agree with the merits of the case, consider the result now: an executive branch agency of the federal government now has not only the power but the duty to monitor and regulate anything it considers a greenhouse gas. Considering that we humans emit greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide for starters, this means that the EPA can turn anybody it wants into a lawbreaker. That used to require a signature of the president and a majority of representatives and senators.

Even if Al Gore is the first person put in jail for various reasons, that still doesn’t make it right. :)

(insert rant about implicit powers here)

From ScotusBlog:

Regarding standing, the Court did not simply weigh the arguments of Massachusetts against those of EPA and find that Massachusetts met the existing test. Instead, five of the justices had to first reset the rules. In grade school, I remember that boys had to perform push-ups with only their feet and hands touching the mat, but girls could do them on their knees. Likewise, Massachusetts and other states now have shiny new rules that go easier on them because of “special solicitude.” Chief Justice Roberts’ dissent argues that the creation of “special solicitude” for Massachusetts is an implicit acknowledgement that it cannot establish standing on traditional terms.

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