Nuisance, GHG And Climate Change

Today, the US Supreme Court reversed the groundbreaking decision, Connecticut v. American Power, which had allowed states, New York City and private land trusts to sue major greenhouse gas producers in nuisance, whether or not their emissions breached federal statute law.

The Court held that all federal common-law rights to seek abatement of carbon-dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel fired power plants were "displaced" by the federal Clean Air Act and actions that the Environmental Protection Agency can take under that statute. Specifically, the Court stated the displacement test as simply "whether the statute speaks directly to the question at issue," and that in this case, Massachusetts v. EPA had made clear that emissions of carbon dioxide qualify as air pollution subject to the CAA.