The Supreme Court hears arguments this week in a case that could determine whether the Bush administration must change course in how it deals with the threat of global warming.
A dozen states as well as environmental groups and large cities are trying to convince the court that the Environmental Protection Agency must regulate, as a matter of public health, the amount of carbon dioxide that comes from vehicles.
Carbon dioxide is produced when fossil fuels are burned. It is the principal "greenhouse" gas that many scientists believe is flowing into the atmosphere at an unprecedented rate, leading to a warming of the earth and widespread ecological changes.
The Bush administration intends to argue before the court on Wednesday that the EPA lacks the power under the Clean Air Act to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant. The agency contends that even if it did have such authority, it would have discretion under the law on how to address the problem without imposing emissions controls.
So, the enviro-wackos want Co2 to be ruled a "pollutant."
As most of us know, humans exhale Carbon Dioxide when we breathe.
If the Supreme Court rules that the government can regulate CO2, it is effectively saying the government can regulate our breath.
Breathing, of course, is essential to life. Therefore, the enviro-wackos want to give the government the power to , ultimately, regulate who breathes and lives and who doesn't.
