A professor of environmental law at Vermont Law School says he’s OK with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of utilities in a climate change suit brought by a group of states including Vermont.
Pat Parenteau, a professor at the law school and former Vermont environmental conservation commissioner, said Monday that the suit was originally filed to get the Environmental Protection Agency to step up efforts to regulate utilities that emit large amounts of carbon dioxide from power plants.
Parenteau says the EPA appears to be moving in that direction, and he sees that as progress. The high court rejected the states’ bid to have courts crack down on the problem, saying that’s EPA’s job.
Assistant Attorney General Scot Kline, meanwhile, says he hopes EPA will get tougher on polluters.