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Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to Consider Major Global Warming Lawsuit Court to Decide Challenge to Low Fuel-Economy Standards |
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SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, May. 11 -/E-Wire/-- On Monday, May 14th, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will consider the Center for Biological Diversity's challenge to the Bush administration's national fuel-economy standards for SUVs and pickup trucks. The lawsuit asserts that the government violated the Environmental Policy and Conservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act by ignoring greenhouse gas emissions and global warming when setting the fuel-economy standards for model year 2008-2011 SUVs and pickup trucks.
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The transportation sector is responsible for nearly one-third of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and the vehicles in question in this case will produce approximately 2.8 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide over their lifetimes. This vast amount of pollution is nearly six times the entire annual emissions of the State of California, which emits approximately 471 million metric tons each year. Carbon dioxide is a leading contributor to global warming, which threatens climatic and biological stability worldwide.
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The case, Center for Biological Diversity v. National Highway Traffic Administration, No. 06-71891, will be considered by Senior Circuit Judge Betty Binns Fletcher, Circuit Judge Michael Daly Hawkins, and Sixth Circuit Senior Judge Eugene E. Siler the hearing is expected to last about an hour and will occur during the Court's 9:00 am session on Monday, May 14th, at the U.S. Court of Appeals, 95 Seventh Street, San Francisco.
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The case is consolidated with similar challenges by California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, District of Columbia, and the City of New York, and four other public interest groups, the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, Public Citizen, and Environmental Defense.
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Congress passed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act in the wake of the 1973-1974 oil embargo as a technology-forcing statute to conserve energy and oil. The law requires the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to set corporate average fuel-economy (CAFE) standards for SUVs and light trucks at the "maximum feasible" level. The Center asserts that the agency violated the law by failing to consider greenhouse gas emissions and global warming when setting the low fuel-economy standards of 22.5, 23.1, and 23.5 miles per gallon for upcoming model years 2008, 2009 and 2010, respectively.
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The Center is represented by Deborah Sivas of the Stanford Environmental Law Clinic as well as Center staff attorneys Kassie Siegel and Brendan Cummings.
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The Center for Biological Diversity is a nonprofit conservation organization with more than 35,000 members dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places. Contact Info:
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Kassie Siegel
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Center for Biological Diversity
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Cell : 951-961-7972
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Debbie Sivas
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Stanford Environmental Law Clinic
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Tel : 650-723-0325
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Cell : 650-269-2489 Website : the Center for Biological Diversity
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/SOURCE:
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the Center for Biological Diversity |
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05-11-2007 |
/CONTACT:
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Kassie Siegel
Center for Biological Diversity
Cell : 951-961-7972
Debbie Sivas
Stanford Environmental Law Clinic
Tel : 650-723-0325
Cell : 650-269-2489 |
| /WEB SITE: |
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org
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