Connecticut Attorney General's Office

Press Release

Attorney General's Statement On Historic EPA Acknowledgement Of Greenhouse Gas Dangers

April 17, 2009

"The new administration has taken an historic step to protect our planet from catastrophic climate change, recognizing irrefutable scientific and legal reality. Pressure from the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling -- successfully sought by our coalition of attorneys generals -- made this step inevitable, but the Obama administration embraced, rather than evaded, it.

"My office fought fiercely -- all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court -- in a coalition of attorneys general to compel the former Bush administration to recognize the grave environmental threat of greenhouse gases. Even after our victory in the nation's highest court, the Bush administration refused to acknowledge that carbon dioxide meets the definition of a pollutant under the Clean Air Act. This sinister silence put private profit over science and safety.

"I applaud the Obama administration for abandoning an era of environmental disregard. The EPA's announcement sets the stage for national reform and regulation to protect the public health and environment against greenhouse gases.

"Today's vital victory leaves ahead an ongoing battle -- a long fight to curb global warming, including emissions reductions by power plants, automobiles and other greenhouse gas polluters."