State AGs Attempt to Hijack Climate Policy
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Richard Morrison, 202.331.2273
<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Washington, D.C., July 20, 2004—Tomorrow, seven state attorneys general and counsel for New York City plan to file lawsuits against five major electric utility companies, asking that the courts require them to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide. The plaintiffs seek, in effect, a version of emissions control policy repeatedly rejected by the Congress, most recently in the failed so-called “Climate Stewardship Act,” which was defeated on the floor of the U. S. Senate last October 30 by a 55 to 43 vote.
“The AGs are seeking to take over setting national policy from the Congress and the president. Moreover, the costs would largely be paid by residents of states other than those whose attorneys general are bringing the suit,” said Myron Ebell, Director of Global Warming and International Environmental Policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. “Although the lawsuit alleges harm to the public, the real harm is not the utility companies that provide electricity to tens of millions of consumers, but this lawsuit. It would force consumers in other States to pay much higher prices for electricity. The AGs are engaging in irresponsible political grandstanding.”
Energy & Legal Experts Available for Interviews
Myron Ebell
Director of Global warming & International Environmental Policy
202-380-6685 (mobile)
Sam Kazman
General Counsel
202-331-2265
Marlo Lewis, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow
202-669-6693 (mobile)
Christopher C. Horner
Senior Fellow and Counsel
202-262-4458 (mobile)