Description: Public nuisance lawsuits seeking imposition of caps on and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from power companies.
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American Electric Power Co. v. Connecticut
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 06/20/2011 Opinion Download Opinion issued. In an 8-0 decision authored by Justice Ginsburg, the court dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that federal common law in this area was displaced by the Clean Air Act. The Court found that Congress had entrusted EPA in the first instance to decide how greenhouse gases should be regulated, and that it was not for the federal courts to issue their own rules. A blog entry analyzing the decision is available here. 03/11/2011 Brief Merits brief filed by respondent states and respondent New York City. Seven respondents—six states and New York City—filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court urging it to uphold states' rights to sue power companies as a major contributor to climate change. They argued that the power companies were major contributors to climate change and were collectively responsible for 10% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions. A blog entry describing these arguments in more detail is available here. 01/31/2011 Brief Download Brief filed by Tennessee Valley Authority as respondent supporting petitioners. The federal government, on behalf of the Tennessee Valley Authority, asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Second Circuit decision allowing several states to continue with their public nuisance lawsuit against several utility companies for their greenhouse gas emissions. According to the government, courts should not adjudicate such general grievances absent statutory authority, particularly since EPA had begun regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. A blog entry analyzing the claims raised by TVA and American Electric Power Co. in their briefs is available here. 12/06/2010 Order List Certiorari granted. On December 6, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari. Justice Sotomayor recused herself; she had been on the Second Circuit panel that heard the argument below, though she had been promoted to the Supreme Court before the Second Circuit issued its ruling allowing the case to proceed.
08/24/2010 Brief Download Brief filed by Tennessee Valley Authority in support of petition for writ of certiorari. On August 24, 2010, the federal government, appearing on behalf of one of the named defendants (Tennessee Valley Authority), filed a brief in support of the certiorari petition also seeking to overturn the Second Circuit’s decision. The brief questioned whether the plaintiffs had standing to bring the lawsuit and whether recent actions by EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions supplanted the reason given by the Second Circuit for allowing the case to proceed. 08/02/2010 Petition for Writ of Certiorari Download Petition for writ of certiorari filed. Defendants filed a petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Second Circuit’s September 2009 ruling. -
Connecticut v. American Electric Power Co.
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 03/05/2010 Order Rehearing denied. The Second Circuit denied a motion for rehearing or a rehearing en banc concerning its September 2009 decision. 09/21/2009 Opinion Download Opinion issued. The Second Circuit vacated a lower court decision and reinstated a lawsuit by eight states and New York City against six large electric power generators that sought to limit the generators’ greenhouse gas emissions by claiming that these emissions contributed to the public nuisance of climate change. In 2005, the district court dismissed the lawsuit, holding that the claims represented “non-judiciable political questions.” The Second Circuit reversed, holding that although Congress has enacted laws affecting air pollution, none of those laws has displaced federal common law. The court stated that there may be a time where federal laws and regulations preempt the field of common law nuisance, but that this had not yet occurred. -
Connecticut v. American Electric Power Co.