Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency Case

 




Case Study or Administrative Law
Daniel Lemstrom
Affiliation:















Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency Case
Introduction
This is the case that happened in the year 2007 at the Supreme Court of the United States of America. It was an initiative of the twelve states, three cities and various environmental organizations. They did set a law suit against the United States’ environmental protection agency. The appeal’s aim did focus on regulating the air pollution under the clean air act. The Environmental Protection Agency did reject the request of Massachusetts to enact the law of reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases that are causing the global warming (Jonathan, 2007). This is a problem that is affecting the whole world and has adverse effects on the climatic conditions. Massachusetts did enforce in reducing the greenhouse gas pollutants and motor vehicles exhausting gases in the United Sates of America, but the decision made by the court was in favor of Environmental Protection Agency. However, in the year 2009, in April, the court pronounced a declaration that the pollution of greenhouse gases has adverse effects on the environment in the whole as well as creates health problems to people.
The main petitioners of this case were the automotive manufacturers and the environmental protection agencies that included: the National Automobile Dealers Association, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Engine Manufacturers Association, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the Utility Air Regulation Group, the Truck Manufacturers Association, and the CO2 Litigation Group. The respondent’s states comprised of Utah, Michigan, Texas, Alaska, South Dakota, Kansas, Ohio, Idaho, Nebraska, and Massachusetts’ Attorney General's. The representative of the petitioners was James Milken from the office of the Attorney General in Massachusetts.
The petitioners did claim that it was a failure of the Environmental Protection Agency to advocate for the reduction of the pollutants’ volumes to the environment leading to the sea level rise. This indicates that the coastal line in in great danger of sinking and many properties will cause serious losses. This is unacceptable. And it is the responsibility of the United States’ environmental protection agency to prevent it from happening. The plaintiff sought to get the environmental protection agency to correct this mistake and reduce the carbon (iv) oxide and other greenhouse gases’ emissions from motor vehicles.
This case prompts the courts to give a judgment on the basis of the Clean Air Act, which provides the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator to be responsible in regulating the volumes of the pollutants’ emissions by companies according to the Clean Air Act (Harrington et al., 2010). The standards are applicable to any pollutant emissions from the air pollutant and the classes of motor vehicles. According to the judge’s verdict, these pollutants can jeopardize the welfare or public health of people.
According to the Clean Air Act, an air pollutant as any air pollution agent or a mixture of substances that cause the pollution, which may include any biological, radioactive, chemical or physical substance emitted into the atmosphere. The welfare, in this case, means the things that have a negative effect on weather and climate of any geographical region. The scientific research shows cumulative results about air pollutants. In this case, specifically, the emitted carbon (iv) oxide and other greenhouse gases have a significant effect on the weather or climatic conditions of the certain geographical area. The melting of ice causes a significant increase in the water levels all over the world.
Global warming is a widespread phenomenon that affects people all over the world. Massachusetts has a firsthand experience concerning the effects of global warming. There was a convention for the whole world to get to know about the global warming effect. Each country in all the continents had to take the initiative to minimize or reduce the greenhouse effects by minimizing the carbon and greenhouse emissions.
This spirit passes to the technological industries, and the car manufacturers started their research on building motor vehicles that are more fuel efficient and have a minimal emission. Other manufacturing industries followed the suit to create this positive effect even though they know that global warming effects are irreversible, they still had to do something to prevent the further damage. In the United States, the Senate assigned this role to the United States’ Environmental Protection Agency.
The global warming has adverse effects, which are severe and irreversible. They include the changing of natural ecosystems and the significant reduction in the water storage in winter with the snow packs in mountainous regions. Also, the ferocity of hurricanes is causing the sea level to rise. These diverse effects ha