Attorney General Lockyer Issues Statement Regarding Supreme Court Decision to Review Bush's Refusal to Regulate Global Warming Pollution

(SACRAMENTO) - Attorney General Bill Lockyer today issued the following statement regarding the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to review an Appeals Court decision that supported the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) refusal to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, a pollutant that contributes to global warming.

“We are confident that the Supreme Court will make history by striking down the Bush Administration’s stance that the EPA cannot and will not regulate global warming. Science overwhelmingly documents the certainty of global warming and we must act now in order to save our planet from disastrous impacts on our global environment, health and economy.”

Attorney General Lockyer is joined by 11 other Attorneys General, two cities and major environmental groups in a lawsuit filed in October, 2003 that challenged in the EPA’s refusal to set motor vehicle emission standards, even if it had authority. In July, 2005 the D.C. Circuit Appeals Court voted 2-1 to let the EPA's current position on greenhouse gas pollutants stand. In August, 2005, the full bench of the Appeals Court denied to hear an appeal in divided 4-3 decision.