Is 2007 the Climate Change Tipping Point?

Is interest in saving the world from human-caused climate-change disasters taking permanent hold in people's consciousness, or will the current uptick in climate awareness turn out to be just a fad? Newsweek explores that frightening but very relevant question this week.

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Bush, States Split on Emissions

According to a story in the New York Times, President Bush is satisfied with the progress his administration has made on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, while several states have opted to enact their own, stricter standards.

A day after the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government had the authority to regulate heat-trapping gases, President Bush said he thought that the measures he had taken so far were sufficient.

But the court’s ruling was being welcomed by Congress and the states, which are already using the decision to speed their own efforts to regulate the gases that contribute to global climate change. As a result, Congress and state legislatures are almost certain to be the arenas for far-reaching and bruising lobbying battles.

IREJN is Connecticut's Interfaith Power and Light. Visit us at www.irejn.org.

Supreme Retort

This item, reprinted in its entirety, appeared in Salon:

Finally, a Supreme Court victory for Al Gore
In a blow to the Bush administration, the Supreme Court has just ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency must revisit its decision that it lacks the power to regulate the emission of greenhouse gases that cause global warming.
Writing for a 5-4 majority, Justice John Paul Stevens said that the EPA has offered a "laundry list" of excuses but "no reasoned explanation for its refusal to decide whether greenhouse gases cause or contribute to climate change."
-- Tim Grieve
IREJN is Connecticut's Interfaith Light and Power. Visit us at www.irejn.org.