Supreme Court Rules EPA Can Regulate Auto Emissions

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published April 2, 2007 at 1:02 PM PDT

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ordered the federal government to take a new look at regulating carbon dioxide emissions from cars. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce says the ruling may improve California's chances a

The U.S. Supreme Court has ordered the federal government to take a new look at regulating carbon dioxide emissions from cars. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce says the ruling may improve California's chances at setting tougher rules on auto emissions.

In a 5-4 decision, the high court ruled the Clean Air Act gives the Environmental Protection Agency authority to regulate the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from cars. California has asked the EPA for a waiver to limit tailpipe emissions. Automakers have sued the state over the attempt to impose those strict emission standards. San Diego attorney and legal analyst Dan Eaton.

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Eaton : What this decision did clarify is that the EPA has the authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate these global emissions. That issue was contested in the suit that the automakers brought. Now, it's off the table.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown says the decision helps the state's effort to control greenhouse gas emissions. California's tougher rules would force automakers to cut exhaust from cars and light trucks by 25 percent starting in 2009.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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