This post is by Vickie Patton, Deputy General Counsel at Environmental Defense, and a former attorney in the EPA’s General Counsel’s office.

Two lawsuits were filed today against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which sits in San Francisco. The first lawsuit was filed by California, and the second by several environmental organizations – Environmental Defense, the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Conservation Law Foundation, and the International Center for Technology Assessment.

The lawsuits challenge EPA’s denial of California’s request for a preemption waiver under the Clean Air Act to implement the state’s landmark standards for greenhouse gas emissions – requests that have been granted by EPA over 50 times in the past 40 years [PDF].

The EPA’s decision relies on a flawed argument that the federal courts already have rejected and are likely to reject again.

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This post is by Sheryl Canter, an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense.

Are you thinking about climate-related New Year’s resolutions? In addition to this list of ideas from our Web site, here are some articles we’ve posted on green living that can give you some ideas.

Your Home:

• Personal Impact: Does It Really Matter What You Do? (easy-to-do tips)
• Making the Invisible Visible (energy usage feedback devices)
• The Next Big (Light bulb) Idea (LEDs)
• Why Switch to Compact Fluorescents?
• Heating with Lightbulbs: A Bad Idea
• Food Miles: Is Local Always Better?
• Energy-Efficient Mortgages: It Pays to Go Green

Your Car:

• Turn Off Your Engine!  
• Tips for Cleaner Driving
• To Drive Less, Live Closer to Work