Argus reported that US government lawyers have defended federal regulators' finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health, calling the scientific and legal support for the decision overwhelming and urging a court to reject industry and state lawsuits against it.
The Department of Justice, on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency, told the DC Circuit Court of Appeals that the lawsuits largely rely on scattershot challenges that amount to little more than mistaken or essentially irrelevant characterizations of isolated parts of an abundant and convincing technical record.
Justice Department lawyers said in written arguments filed with the court that "In fact, most of the key components of EPA's scientific analysis are essentially undisputed."
Dozens of parties, including coal producers, industry groups, the state of Texas and conservative think tanks, are suing EPA to overturn the endangerment finding issued in late 2009, which said GHG emissions from automobiles were a threat to public health and welfare. The finding led to EPA issuing its tailoring rule including GHG emissions in Clean Air Act permits for major stationary sources, which is the target of another case before the DC Circuit.
EPA also defended its decision to classify the six main GHGs as a single air pollutant as supported by the Clean Air Act and regulatory precedent. It also dismissed the industry claim that the agency should have considered the impacts of eventual regulation of stationary sources.
