Federal Court Demolishes Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's Legal Arguments Against EPA Regulation of Carbon Dioxide Pollution

“This is how science works. EPA is not required to re-prove the existence of the atom every time it approaches a scientific question.”---United States Court of Appeals


On Tuesday, June 26, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the Environmental Protection Agency's ruling that greenhouse gasses are pollutants. The Court totally demolished Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's ridiculous, poorly-documented petition to the EPA.


The Washington Post (6-6-12) reports:


The setback in the EPA case was...resounding. Cuccinelli argued that the EPA was wrong to rely on outside scientists to help it conclude that human activity is leading to global warming.


The court mocked that contention. It said building on past research “is how science works. EPA is not required to re-prove the existence of the atom every time it approaches a scientific question.”


University of Virginia law professor Jonathan Cannon said Cuccinelli’s case against the EPA “was a long shot, clearly,” because both the law and the science were against him. But Cuccinelli fought this battle not necessarily to win, but to make a political statement.


“There seems to be a symbolic element to some of the litigation that he’s selected,” Cannon said diplomatically.