This post is by Vickie Patton, Deputy General Counsel at Environmental Defense.

The 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals just issued a 90-page opinion overturning major aspects of the Bush administration's flawed fuel economy standards for light-duty trucks. Sean Donahue argued the case for Environmental Defense and Susan Fiering for the California Attorney General's office - on behalf of a larger group of state and environmental petitioners.

Among other things, the court held that the Department of Transportation (DOT):

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The author of today's post, Jim Tripp, is General Counsel at Environmental Defense. Working with state agencies and other environmental groups, Tripp presented arguments in the Vermont trial this spring.

We won an important victory today. A federal judge in Vermont ruled against U.S. automakers' attempt to block states from setting new rules limiting global warming pollution from automobiles. In his ruling, Judge William K. Sessions III said that the auto industry failed to prove that it could not safely meet the tailpipe standards.

A number of environmental groups joined the State of Vermont in defending the case, including us at Environmental Defense, the Conservation Law Foundation, the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Vermont Public Interest Research Group.

So can Vermont now implement the tighter emissions requirements? Not quite yet.

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In 2005, California petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for permission to establish its own, stricter tailpipe emissions standards. Nearly two years have passed, and EPA still has not ruled on the request - despite a recent Supreme Court ruling that EPA has the authority to regulate tailpipe emissions.

Today, Environmental Defense and NRDC sent a letter to EPA warning that they will join California to in a lawsuit to compel "EPA's unreasonably delayed and unlawfully withheld final action on California's waiver request" if the agency does not make a decision within 180 days.

Last week's Supreme Court ruling on Massachusetts versus EPA was a landmark victory for Planet Earth, but there's still much work to be done. The ruling doesn't demand any specific action - it just sets the stage for future rulings. Case in point: California’s petition to EPA to use its own, stricter emissions standards rather than federal emissions standards.

In light of this ruling, will the EPA grant California’s petition? On April 5^th, a couple of news outlets reported that EPA had approved California's request. Unfortunately, they got it wrong. EPA simply agreed to take the next to step in considering the California waiver - holding public hearings. We won’t know for months how EPA will rule.

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Planet Earth won a major victory in the Supreme Court today. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had maintained that regulation of greenhouse gases was beyond its authority. Today in a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court disagreed. For background on the case, see our article "Supreme Court Hears Global Warming Case" or the full text of the decision [PDF]. Environmental Defense was one of the petitioners in this case.

And that wasn't the only Supreme Court victory today. The United States and Environmental Defense filed suit against Duke Energy for violating Clear Air Act rules when it renovated its plants, and today the Supreme Court agreed. For background on the case, see our article "Pivotal Clean Air Case Before Supreme Court" or the full text of the decision [PDF].
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