[Junk] scientists ask for restrictions on power plants

Representing 14 of the country’s leading climate change scientists, Public Justice recently urged the U.S. Supreme Court to hold power plants accountable for their carbon dioxide emissions and allow states to impose restrictions on how much of the chemical compound may be released.

The scientists’ amicus brief in AEP v. Connecticut et al., argues that there is no scientific uncertainty about the warming effects of greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide; that the power plants threaten substantial harm to communities in the six plaintiff states; and that the benefits of reduced emissions would be significant.

The scientists include Mario Molina, who received the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his role in showing that chlorofluorocarbons damage the Earth’s ozone layer; and Dan Schrag, director of the Harvard University Center for the Environment.

Likening the scale, momentum and long response time of climate change to a huge supertanker, the scientists warned that “the planet is headed toward a shipwreck” and that “evasive action” and emission reductions “to reduce the throttle” are essential.
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“The science of climate change is not up for debate” said Richard Webster, the attorney of record on this brief, “we want the Court to understand that climate change is real, it’s happening, and we need to take action to mitigation its consequences.”