Atlantic International Partnership Headlines: Supreme Court kills global warming suit

The fight over global warming and whether to limit carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants must be resolved by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Supreme Court said, killing a suit in federal court brought against the nation’s five largest electric power companies.

The 8-0 decision Monday was a setback — but not a surprise — for environmentalists. The outcome puts more pressure on the Obama administration and the EPA to follow through with promises to propose new regulations in the fall that will restrict carbon pollution from power plants.

The EPA under President Obama has already adopted stricter emissions standards for cars and trucks. However, more ambitious moves contemplated by the administration could be difficult to implement because the Republican-led House has voiced opposition to new regulations that would affect energy producers.

Eight states had filed suit against Midwest and Southern power producers based on the old doctrine that a state or a private party could file a “public nuisance” suit against another party for polluting its air or water.

In throwing out the suit, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said it posed a classic “who decides” question. In this instance, she said, it is clear that environmental policy should be decided by the EPA, not by a single federal judge overseeing a legal dispute.