Today was a bad day for those fighting tougher clean air enforcement. In a 5-4 decision in the case of Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency, the Supreme Court told the Bush Administration to take another look at regulating greenhouse gas emissions from cars. Writing for the majority, Justice John Paul Stevens said the Clean Air Act gave EPA the authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. The EPA has previously refused to regulate the greenhouse gas.
Back in November, Legal Times' Tony Mauro predicted Justice Anthony Kennedy would hold the decisive vote in the case.
Meanwhile, the court also ruled for environmentalists in Environmental Defense v. Duke Energy. In that case, the court ruled that improvements to Duke Energy Corp.'s power plants meant the company has to abide by newer, more stringent clean air standards.
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