Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Changing Policy Without Changing Law: Addressing Climate Change Under The Clean Air Act, Philip Wallach

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

The evolution of our national climate change policy at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from the 1990s-2000s, is marked by a backdrop of congressional inaction. In 2007, litigation (Massachusetts v. EPA) required the EPA to re-interpret the Clean Air Act to also apply to greenhouse gases. This presentation will include a summary of the legal arguments in that case, and the narrow Supreme Court decision that supported the petitioners; a review of the legal and practical challenges emanating from this ruling; and consideration of the EPA's impact on continuing legislative debates. The speaker will explore the impact of this decision …