Men (and Woman) in Black to Decide Fate of Earth :-(

Before the end of its term last month, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case concerning whether the E.P.A. has the authority under the Clear Air Act to regulate greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide. The issue in the case is relatively simple: whether greenhouse gases are "air pollutants" under the Clean Air Act that threaten "public health or welfare" such that the federal government may regulate them.

The EPA and the Bush Administration have said "no." They argue that the Clear Air Act mentions CO2 only in passing, and if Congress truly intended to regulate greenhouse gases it would have instructed the EPA to take aggressive actions such as it did with sulfur dioxide.

The New York Times said in its lead editorial today that the "case is among the most important environmental disputes ever to come before the court." The outcome, the Times said, "will have much to say about whether the country will be able to act more aggressively on a problem with potentially grave consequences" and may also determine whether the states may act aggressively without fear of a federal veto.

But what's truly frightening is that the Federal Government has so completely ignored the central crisis of our time that we are left clutching at straws from the Supreme Court. Congress has completely abdicated its responsibility and -- even if the Court rules that the E.P.A has authority to regulate greenhouse gases -- the Bush Administration has stated it will not do so.

Every week, there is more bad news about global warming, with evidence of deeper and broader impacts. This week, a new study indicated that western wildfires have increased “suddenly and dramatically” since the late 1980s which, according to a co-author, “appears to be another part of a chain of reactions to climate warming.” Since about 1987, fires increased in average from one week to five weeks or more, there were four times as many fires, the area burned increased more than six-fold, and the wildfire season was extended by 78 days.

The Supreme Court decision will be important, but it's going to take much more than the Supreme Court to rescue us. At this time, we must be single issue voters: any Federal, State and Local government official who doesn't take proactive material action on global warming and sustainability must be voted out of office.

And we must take action in our own lives: educate, take the bus, buy local, conserve, eat organic, recycle, re-use, make your house energy efficient, support renewable energy, proselytize, and start a sustainable business.