TWO big environmental victories — one with Texas ramifications

The Supreme Court’s ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency DOES have the power to regulate global-warming inducing carbon dioxide as a pollutant is getting all the press.

And, it should get a great deal of this. The ruling doesn’t force the EPA to do anything, but, it turns the heat up, pun intended, on the Bush Administration’s EPA to do something. Also, carmakers who have sued California in its regulations to control CO2 at the state level had a major prop knocked out with this decision.

But, it’s not the only major Supreme Court decision on global warming-related issues. The High Court also ruled, unanimously on this, that Duke Energy must use the latest pollution controls when upgrading its power plants.
Environmental Defense had sued Duke:

Our suit against Duke Energy, the country's third-largest power company, centered on its costly renovations to 30 coal-fired electric generating units at eight power plants in North Carolina and South Carolina. Many of these facilities had been operated sporadically or not at all and were due to be retired and replaced. Instead, Duke Energy extensively rebuilt them, resulting in significant increases in particulate- and smog-forming pollution, but did not obtain permits nor install pollution control equipment as required by law.

Of course, then the Bush Adminstration tried to weaken these requirements, Duke said, in essence, “Sign us up,” and the suit was necessitated.

Here in Texas? Of HUGE importance if TXU wants to expand output at any of its coal fired plants. Or any other utilities.