By a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court issued a ruling today in favor of states petitioning the EPA to classify greehouse gases such as carbon dioxide as pollutants. This means states can regulate carbon dioxide and so too can the federal government, I suppose.
This is a really, really big deal.
Here's the ruling (PDF) from scotusblog.
2 comments:
this is good news, but almost everyday there's a moment when i feel like we're already fucked.
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/04/01/243/
...
But as the world’s average temperature warms from 1990 levels, the projections get more dire. Add 1C and between 400 million and 1.7 billion extra people can’t get enough water, some infectious diseases and allergenic pollens rise, and some amphibians go extinct. But the world’s food supply, especially in northern areas, could increase. That’s the likely outcome around 2020, according to the draft.
Add another 1.8 degrees and as many as 2 billion people could be without water and about 20 per cent to 30 per cent of the world’s species near extinction. Also, more people start dying because of malnutrition, disease, heat waves, floods and droughts - all caused by global warming. That would happen around 2050, depending on the level of greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels.
At the extreme end of the projections, a 7- to 9-degree average temperature increase, the chart predicts: “Up to one-fifth of the world population affected by increased flood events” … “1.1 to 3.2 billion people with increased water scarcity” … “major extinctions around the globe.”
Despite that dire outlook, several scientists involved in the process say they are optimistic that such a drastic temperature rise won’t happen because people will reduce carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming.
“The worst stuff is not going to happen because we can’t be that stupid,” said Harvard University oceanographer James McCarthy, who was a top author of the 2001 version of this report.
i'm not sure we're not that stupid.
http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2007-03-04-1.html
that bullshit makes me so sad cause i really fucking loved ENDER'S GAME. i was also a big fan of JURASSIC PARK back when. i wanted your commentary on the number cooking claims. i know the methods are "complex" as you've stated earlier, but i need more to go on. when i argue this, bitches use the methodology argument as a conversation ender. after that all i can do is clock 'em in the back of the head as they walk away.
ok, this'll take a bit of thought. check back on it.
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