Stars n Moons 4/04/07

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

By Planet User

Supreme Court does the right thing with CO2 ruling
Is it possible for me to dole out two stars? If so, this one’s a winner. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a 5-4 decision, ruling “that the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate heat-trapping gases in automobile emissions … [and] ruled that the agency could not sidestep its authority to regulate the greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change unless it could provide a scientific basis for its refusal,” according to The New York Times.

Carbon dioxide, a heat-trapping greenhouse gas, is thought to be the primary contributor to global warming.

The decision will influence countless other cases around the country, such as the regulation of carbon dioxide from power plants. But in the most immediate sense, the ruling will affect American automakers, who will now have to make cars that meet tougher carbon dioxide emission standards in states that have strong regulations.

Lucky for those of us who live in states without top-tier emissions laws, American automakers aren’t likely to make a clean and dirty version of the same car and we’ll all benefit.

Justice David Souter noted that “by any standard, U.S. motor-vehicle emissions make a meaningful contribution to greenhouse gas concentrations.” Seems obvious given America’s dependence on the auto for just about everything and American automakers reluctance to clean up their fleets.
— Melanie Stein

Immigration case could affect Jackson
Last summer Mayor Lour Barletta of Hazelton, Pa., population 30,000, imposed a city ordinance penalizing landlords who rented to illegal immigrants and businesses that hired them. Between 2000 and 2006 the town received an influx of 10,000 Hispanic immigrants. 

Barletta believes the immigrants have ruined the town’s quality of life and drained the municipal treasury.  Barletta has managed to drive much of the Hispanic population out of town.

Right now the American Civil Liberties Union, along with many local businesses and  landlords, is suing the town claiming that the ordinance violates the federal government’s power to regulate immigration, deprives residents of their constitutional rights to equal protection and due process, and violates  state and federal housing law.

The ordinance that Hazelton has imposed has been emulated in towns across America. I hope the town of Jackson, who relies on the influx of immigrants, legal or otherwise, keeps an eye on this case as it develops.

The outcome will likely change immigration laws nationwide and therefore affect our town. Does anyone remember when the INS was rumored to be in town last summer? At least one fast-food establishment closed for the day.
— Sam Petri
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Stars n Moons 4/04/07 | Planet JH News Article: Stars & Moons

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