The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments today regarding whether the federal government should be required to apply the Clean Air Act to emmissions of greenhouse gases.
The Bush administration, as expected given its harsh antienvironmental bias, opposes the move — the product of a lawsuit filed by 12 states and 13 environmental groups.
This case is a prime example of the destructiveness of the Bush years — and not only because it is shows the effect that Bush’s antiregulatory and environmental attitude has on the agencies assigned to protect the public.
It also will be one of the first chances that we will have to see the Bush court in action. It is this more conservative court — shifted significantly to the right with the confirmation of Samuel Alito — that will decide this case and too many cases well into the future.
Already, according to the AP report I linked to above, Chief Justice John Roberts (Bush’s other appointee) and Justice Alito are indicating they have a dim view of the case. Added to Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, that’s a pretty strong conservative block. The swing justice, Anthony Kennedy, has a relatively conservative voting record, though he has been moving more toward the center in recent years and maybe taking over the position held by Sandra Day O’Connor — essentially, the pragmatic conservative who respects precedent and the political process — before she retired.
Here’s hoping the recent change in party composition in Congress puts an end to Bush’s court packing.
By the way, buried in this story is an example of the kind of bad reporting that passes for balance:
Many scientists believe that greenhouse gases, flowing into the atmosphere at an unprecedented rate, are leading to a warming of the Earth, rising sea levels and other marked ecological changes.
“Many” makes it seem as if global warming remains an open question (many feel one way, therefore there is a constituency that believes otherwise) when in reality there is consensus in the scientific community and the only objections these days are coming from corporate sponsored scientists and ideological hacks.
I would have written it this way:
A consensus has formed in the scientific community over the issue, with the vast majority of scientists believing that greenhouse gases, flowing into the atmosphere at an unprecedented rate, are leading to a warming of the Earth, rising sea levels and other marked ecological changes.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
Hank Kalet 