The Supreme Court to Hear EPA's Plan to Cut Emissions

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The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Monday "about a small but important piece of the Environmental Protection Agency's plans to cut the emissions - a requirement that companies expanding industrial facilities or building new ones that would increase overall pollution must also evaluate ways to reduce the carbon they release", reports Saul Loeb from the AP. According to Jacob Hollinger, a former EPA lawyer, "a court ruling against EPA almost undoubtedly would be used to challenge every step of the agency's effort to deal with climate change."

The case against the EPA is headed by a group effort including the utility industry, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and 13 states, led by Texas.   This group believes "the EPA overstepped its authority by trying to regulate greenhouse gas emissions through the permitting program." 

The EPA is receiving support from New York, California, Illinois and 12 other states, as well as the Calpine Corp., a natural gas and geothermal power plant operator with facilities located around the nation.  According to the article, Calpine said the permitting program is "neither overly burdensome nor unworkable."

To read the complete article found on CBS News, click here.