• States sue EPA over global warming

    States sue EPA over global warming
    Oct. 27, 2003
    2 min read
    Twelve states and several prominent environmental groups are suing the Environmental Protection Agency over a ruling it made last year that said it doesn’t have the authority to control greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.

    The states – California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, along with the cities of Baltimore, New York, and the District of Columbia – also want more regulatory control of emissions such as oxides of nitrogen and particulate matter as part of an effort to stop global warming.

    The Sierra Club, which supports the lawsuit, said such emissions have caused the world to ‘warm up,’ leading to unstable weather patterns, floods, droughts, and outbreaks of tropical diseases. Extreme weather events cost Americans nearly $20 billion in 2002, a cost that could increase if the U.S. does nothing to curb global warming, the group said.

    Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Forum, told Fleet Owner that the lawsuit by the states against EPA represents a step in their continuing strategy to wrest emission regulatory control away from the federal government. The eventual impact on trucking from this effort, however, remains unclear.

    “Global warming is an issue larger than trucking and transportation,” Schaeffer said. “Transportation is really only 25% of the issue. On-road diesel emissions in the United States, for example, only account for 0.7% of the world’s ‘black carbon’ pollution. So there is still plenty of uncertainty on both the political and scientific levels as to how much of a contributor transportation is to the global warming issue.”

    About the Author

    Sean Kilcarr

    Editor in Chief

    Sean Kilcarr is a former longtime FleetOwner senior editor who wrote for the publication from 2000 to 2018. He served as editor-in-chief from 2017 to 2018.

     

    Voice your opinion!

    To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of FleetOwner, create an account today!

    Sign up for our free eNewsletters

    Latest from News

    ID 119046131 © Jonathan Weiss | Dreamstime.com
    English language proficiency support
    A FleetOwner survey illustrates how industry readers view the government renewed English language proficiency enforcement. Respondents overwhelmingly support ELP in out-of-service...
    Daimler Truck
    Daimler and Volvo's Coretura leadership
    Two of the largest global truck OEMs have established a joint venture to develop one software-defined vehicle platform, bringing standardization to the industry. While the company...
    Nissan
    Lofaro succeeds Judy Wheeler, who is retiring after nearly 15 years of dedicated service to the brand.
    Major leadership changes are happening for Mack Trucks, Volvo Trucks North America, and Nissan Americas.