NEWS

National plan needed on climate change

04/06/2007

Register Editorial Board

Des Moines Register

As a new installment of a United Nations report on global warming is released, sentiment for U.S. action moved to a new level this week following a U.S. Supreme Court decision on greenhouse-gas regulations.

The question no longer is whether government and industry will act, but what form the regulations will take and where they will be written. For now, the states are taking the lead, but eventually the president and Congress must step up to the plate with a national global-warming strategy that is part of a global solution.

The logjam on federal global-warming regulation appeared to have been broken with a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court Monday that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency does, in fact, have the authority to issue new rules for automobile emissions. The ruling was largely about a technical legal question - whether the states and environmental groups had legal standing to bring the lawsuit in the first place. Four dissenting justices, led by Chief Justice John Roberts, argued that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate any immediate harm from global warming and therefore did not have standing to sue the EPA. Besides, these justices argued, even if this case were eligible for review, the EPA has sufficient grounds for refusing to act on global warming.

Although a narrow five-justice majority of the court ruled otherwise, the decision will not lead to new federal regulations anytime soon. The court sent the case back to a federal trial court, where the EPA will have the opportunity to make its case that Congress did not give it authority to act on greenhouse gases. Congress could order the EPA to act, but that could be blocked by the president's veto pen. President Bush on Tuesday said he thought the administration had done enough to curtail auto emissions, suggesting he has no intent of proposing more stringent rules.

All of that means continued gridlock at the federal level on global warming. More likely is action at the state level: California, four other Western states and eight New England states - which combined represent a third of the nation's automobile market - have established targets for reducing greenhouse gases. Following Monday's ruling, California called on the EPA to act on waivers that prevent state action. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, lawmakers in 40 states are considering bills dealing with global warming. In Iowa, the Legislature is considering only tentative steps at this point, including greenhouse-gas monitoring.

State action is welcome, but a uniform federal solution is in the best interests of energy producers, consumers and the planet. Ultimately, there must be a global solution, because even though the United States is the leading contributor of greenhouse gases, it will soon be surpassed by China, India and other emerging market economies.

The United States can act as a leader in bringing those nations along only if it cleans up its act at home. We have not even begun.