Weekly Climate Change Policy Update - August 30, 2010

Article by Kyle Danish, Shelley Fidler, Kevin Gallagher, Megan Ceronsky and Tomás Carbonell

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Commentary

Environmental NGOs expressed dismay when the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) – representing the Tennessee Valley Authority, a governmental entity – sided with industry in a brief to the Supreme Court on the Second Circuit's decision in the Connecticut v. AEP case. In its brief, DOJ defended the primacy of the Executive Branch over the Judicial Branch on the issue of climate change, arguing that the regulatory regime under construction by the Environmental Protection Agency is adequate to "occupy the field," thereby precluding a lawsuit-based pathway for activists and states. In support of its arguments, DOJ pointed to a number of final rules (the endangerment finding, motor vehicle regulations, the Tailoring Rule) and noted that EPA is "evaluating