The Clean Air Act: A Suitable Tool for Addressing the Challenges of Climate Change
The political opponents of regulation addressing climate change claim that the Clean Air Act (CAA) is a “fossil” neither intended nor suitable for addressing the challenges of climate change. Legal and historical analysis suggests otherwise. Both the text of the Act, as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court in Massachusetts v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the legislative history indicate a congressional intent to regulate emissions of pollutants that pose a risk of causing changes in worldwide climate.