LANSING – Though the Granholm administration supports the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and controlling global warming, Michigan will not be joining a lawsuit filed this week against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Massachusetts is leading the action in the U.S. District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals to have the court order the EPA to develop rules regulating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The U.S. Supreme Court had ruled last year that greenhouse gases were subject to the federal Clean Air Act and the 12 states, two cities and multiple environmental groups argued in court filings that the finding of endangerment that would launch the rule-making process has been written but is being withheld by the Bush administration.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to order that EPA release its finding within 60 days.
Department of Environmental Quality spokesperson Robert McCann said the administration supports greenhouse gas reductions, but his agency would not be directly involved in the federal lawsuit.
The issue has put the administration in a bind in the past because it supports efforts to improve the environment but has also echoed concerns that too much regulation could hurt the auto industry, still the state’s economic backbone.
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