Supreme Court Considers Global Warming Case
The US Supreme Court is currently hearing arguments on the case of Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency, et al. that could have an effect on international environmental law and US foreign relations. The case is essentially an argument that the US should consider greenhouse gases to be air pollutants that must be regulated. Browse through the transcript of the hearing yesterday (linked above) and you will see that the Justices are wondering what effect their ruling would have on international agreements in the future. I think this could be a very important decision because the Bush administration has been moving away from the international consensus that global warming is a problem (see the overwhelming number of countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol), or at least one we are willing to take serious action on (see US position on Kyoto for example). We are all in this world together, so we should do our part to help. This decision could force us into action. For more about the case read on here and here.