Court rules against Bush in global warming case - Yahoo! News

By James Vicini
Mon Apr 2, 5:52 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters)

In a stinging defeat for the Bush administration, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday that U.S. environmental officials have the power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions that spur global warming.

By a 5-4 vote, the nation's highest court told the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider its refusal to regulate carbon dioxide and other emissions from new cars and trucks that contribute to climate change.

The high court ruled that such greenhouse gases from motor vehicles fall within the law's definition of an air pollutant.

The ruling in one of the most important environmental cases to reach the Supreme Court marked the first high court decision in a case involving global warming.