Recent News: Global Warming
Activists Sue Texas to Restrict Greenhouse Gases
DALLAS (AP)—Environmental activists sued the Texas environmental agency Tuesday in an effort to force the state to regulate greenhouse gases, asking that coal-fired power plant projects be halted until that happens.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality issues air pollution permits that set limits on toxic releases, but the agency says there is no need to regulate carbon dioxide. Texas emits more greenhouse gases, made up mostly of CO2 emissions, than any other state.
The lawsuit by Public Citizen—which describes itself as a consumer advocacy organization—calls for greenhouse gas limits to be imposed as part of the permitting process, based on a 2007 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that classified carbon dioxide as an air pollutant under the Clean Air Act.
Global Warming: Here Come the Lawyers
In what is becoming an ambitious legal war on oil, electric power, auto, and other companies whose emissions are linked to global warming, lawyers are leaving no stone unturned. At least 16 cases, drawing on a variety of legal strategies, are pending in federal or state court. “This boomlet in global warming litigation represents frustration with the White House’s and Congress’ failure to come to grips with the issue,” says John Echeverria, executive director of Georgetown University’s Environmental Law & Policy Institute. “So the courts, for better or worse, are taking the lead.”
Obstetrics Crisis Growing In Pa.
(The Bulletin) The obstetrics crisis in Pennsylvania is growing. Last month, the maternity units at Brandywine Hospital near Coatesville, Chestnut Hill Hospital in the affluent Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia and Central Montgomery Medical Center in Lansdale, all closed.
So far, 17 maternity wards have closed in Philadelphia since 1997. According to one source, the waiting period for gynecologic care for a new patient in the five-county Southeastern Pennsylvania area is six to nine months.
