Ever heard of taking a government agency to court for not doing its job? It’s happening. It appears some high profile conservation groups and state attorneys general will be suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's for their failure to address global warming pollution from ocean-going ships and aircraft.
Eight state and local jurisdictions will also sue the EPA for unreasonable delay. The filers included the states of California, Connecticut, New Jersey, Oregon, the City of New York, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, California Air Resources Board and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
What’s the history behind these recent actions? The coalition filed petitions to the EPA in late 2007, requesting that it determine whether greenhouse gas emissions from marine vessels and aircraft endanger public health and welfare. They requested that the EPA issue regulations to address these issues and gave them 6 months to do. They never received anything.
Instead, the EPA issued an "Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking" (ANPR) on July 11, 2008 which only helps in gathering comments from other government agencies on the subject of regulating greenhouse gas emissions, reviewing provisions of the Clean Air Act, and raising numerous issues regarding potential regulations.
Kassie Siegel, Climate Program Director for the Center for Biological Diversity said,"Regulating greenhouse pollution from ships and aircraft under the Clean Air Act is a necessary first step towards solving the climate crisis."
In my opinion, this simply confirms what we have been thinking all along: no leadership from the federal government in this area. It is almost common knowledge that shipping and aviation emit high levels of carbon dioxide emissions around the world and contribute to global warming. The fact that the EPA is being sued in this manner is embarrassing, as an American. It now seems that the future of the green movement and our quest towards a sustainable future rests in the hands of private citizens and other organizations. | 
