Donate         
Subscribe tweetSubscribeSubscribe

AGs Band Together on Climate, Too

Not only are there 20-something state attorneys general litigating against Obamacare, but now 22 of them have weighed in on a landmark lawsuit in which an electric utility has sought relief from the Supreme Court over eight Northeastern states’ attempt to regulate greenhouse gases via a public nuisance lawsuit. And the AGs are backing the utility — American Electric Power Company — not their Northeastern colleagues:

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Missouri counterpart Chris Koster joined 20 other attorneys general in filing a “friend of the court” brief to the U.S. Supreme Court imploring it render greenhouse regulation a political question rather than one solved by litigation.

The brief is sent to the court in an attempt to convince justices, but it has no binding effect. The brief said lawsuits seeking past damages for greenhouse gas emissions and injunctions against future emissions undercut state regulatory guidelines crafted by elected officials.

In a press release, Schmidt identified how the nuisance suit could affect every state in the country:

“Kansas has a large stake in the outcome of this litigation,” Schmidt said. “An adverse ruling by the Supreme Court could further expose large parts of our state’s economy - from agriculture to manufacturing to petrochemical refining - to further job-killing regulation by litigation.”

Should those Northeast lawyers succeed in convincing the Justices that bureaucrats can regulate mammalian exhalants (carbon dioxide) based on a “nuisance,” then no one can escape the regulatory whims of government.

Originally posted at American Spectator.

Print Friendly
Make a Contribution
Take Action with ATP
American Tradition Institute is qualified as a 501c3 organization under IRS rules, and is therefore prohibited from grassroots lobbying. To exercise your right to take action at the state and federal levels on important legislation, please visit American Tradition Partnership here.
Become a Friend!
Follow Us!

ATI In The News

Green-Energy Activists Declare War on Rural Coloradans

By Institute for Energy Research, May 7, 2013

Some lawmakers in Colorado want to increase the cost of electricity for all Coloradans, especially those in rural areas. Awaiting Gov. John Hickenlooper’s signature, SB 252would require rural electric cooperatives to dramatically increase the amount of electricity generated from renewable sources to 25 percent by 2020, up from the current mandate of 10 percent. This portends unambiguously higher electricity ratesfor Coloradans.

Print Friendly

RPS Profile Map


About American Tradition Institute

History and Founding Principles American Tradition Institute (ATI) is a public policy research and educational foundation - a "think tank" - founded in 2009 to help lead the national discussion about environmental issues, including air and water quality and regulation, responsible land use, natural resource management, energy development, property rights, and free-market principles of stewardship. American Tradition Institute utilizes a three-pronged strategy to advance responsible, economically sustainable environmental policy: Research, investigative journalism, and litigation, via our Environmental Law Center. Our combination of expert policy analysis, exposing truth, and redressing wrongs in court advances the cause of liberty, and will...

Read More »

Get E-Updates from ATI

Pepper each week with insightful blog posts, valuable news and access to ATI's original content and research.

First Name*:
Last Name*:
Email*:
Phone:
Address:
City:
State:
Zip Code*: