Federal judges deal climate smackdown with unanimous decision to uphold emissions regs

In a finding that restores our faith in judicial common sense, a federal appeals court in Washington has upheld the Environmental Protection Agency's right to regulate greenhouse gases in the name of public health. 

The decision is a major victory for Obama's climate pollution policy and a decisive blow to the utilities, coal companies, Koch-funded climate deniers and states like Texas that had sued to block agency rules.

In the 82-page ruling, the three-judge panel found that the EPA's interpretation of the Clean Air Act to regulate carbon dioxide regulations is "unambiguously correct."

The judges unanimously shot down arguments from industry that the science of global warming was not well supported and that the agency had based its judgment on unreliable studies. They even injected some humor into the decision: "This is how science works. The E.P.A. is not required to reprove the existence of the atom every time it approaches a scientific question."

This is a huge victory, not only for Obama and the EPA, but for the future of our country. The court's ruling sets the stage for EPA to keep doing its job under the Clean Air Act to limit carbon pollution. And that's a good thing.

Photo via Earth Times