States Take On Feds Over Environment

State-led lawsuits and environmental initiatives are changing the face of US environmental regulation.

1 minute read

October 6, 2005, 11:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"Dozens of states, frustrated over federal actions or inaction on the environment, are trying to fill the gap with their own green initiatives - or are filing lawsuits to block federal changes they say would weaken existing environmental regulations. In the past two years some 27 states have participated in at least a dozen major environmental initiatives - often lawsuits - in opposition to federal environmental policies, a Monitor analysis shows.

Examples range from states ganging up to sue the nation's five largest power companies directly for their carbon emissions, to suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over regulatory changes concerning mercury emissions to developing a Kyoto-like global warming pact."

Wednesday, October 5, 2005 in The Christian Science Monitor

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