A federal court has upheld standards by the Environmental Protection Agency that would allow the federal government to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
Vermont, along with 16 other states and the City of New York intervened on behalf of the federal agency defending those standards.
In a statement, Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell said the decision was good news.
“This decision helps clear the way for the federal government to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and deal with climate change,” said Sorrell. “We have been fighting this battle for a number of years, and it is rewarding to see EPA’s standards upheld.”
The decision comes on the heels of a U.S. Supreme Court decision, Massachusetts v. EPA, that clarified that greenhouse gas emissions are “air pollutants” that the government can regulate under the Clean Air Act.
After that, the EPA issued an “endangerment finding,” that greenhouse gases could harm public health and welfare.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld that finding.