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Indiana Officials Declaring EPA Ruling A Victory

Rob Crawley
/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/robcrawley/

In a ruling issued Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court says the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to limit the amount of greenhouse gases companies can produce—but it can only do so if the company is already required to get permits for other pollutants. Environmentalists and state officials in Indiana are declaring the ruling a victory.

Indiana joined 12 several other states in suing the EPA, alleging its new standards regulating greenhouse gases overstepped the authority Congress had given it.

In a statement, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller says the court’s opinion agrees with that argument.

But Sierra Club attorney Joanne Spalding says the Supreme Court still upheld the basic mission of the EPA.

“In that sense, it is a victory because the EPA has been engaged in the very difficult process of trying to determine the best way to regulate greenhouse gases,” says Spalding.

She says the ruling is narrow and does not affect the EPA’s other proposals to cut greenhouse gas emissions.