Key EPA Climate Finding Under Attack

Big business groups and others have filed 16 lawsuits challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's authority to reduce carbon pollution that contributes to global warming.

"[The lawsuits are a] continuation of the big polluters essentially trying to attack the science on climate change.
They have consistently done that throughout this debate," said Joe Mendelson, global warming policy director for the National Wildlife Federation.

The lawsuits call on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review the EPA's endangerment finding, which officially designates carbon and other heat-trapping gases as potentially damaging to public health and wellbeing in response to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling.

Groups filing petitions included the American Petroleum Institute (API), which arranged lobbyist-led "Energy Citizens" rallies last fall to oppose climate and energy legislation, Competitive Enterprise Institute, and National Petrochemical and Refiners Association.