WASHINGTON (CN) - Environmental groups and the attorneys general of 18 states petitioned the D.C. Circuit to force the Environmental Protection Agency to comply with a Supreme Court order on greenhouse gas emissions regulations.
A year ago today, the high court ordered the agency to decide whether greenhouse gases endanger public health or welfare. The EPA completed the determination last year and sent it to the Office of Management and Budget for approval, but has not released it to the public.
EPA administrator Stephen Johnson has reportedly promised to comply with the court's mandate by the end of 2007, but has since extended the deadline another 12 months until the Bush administration is out of office.
Plaintiffs filed a writ of mandamus to speed up compliance with the Supreme Court's ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA, asking the federal appeals court to set a firm 60-day deadline.
California Attorney Gen. Edmund Brown Jr. issued a statement saying it was "outrageous and unlawful" that the agency "broke its word and ignored the Supreme Court's mandate."
Plaintiff states are Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia.
Environmental plaintiffs include the Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Law Foundation, Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Defense Fund.
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