Supremes to RI: Drown Already

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that power plants can’t be sued to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions on the grounds that the emissions threaten society with the effects of global warming, which include rising sea levels, an issue of obvious concern to the Ocean State. The original case was filed in 2004 by several states, including Rhode Island and our New England neighbors Connecticut and Vermont, and conservation organizations against five utility companies. An appellate court had ruled that the pollutants were indeed a nuisance to society, but the Supreme Court has now overturned that decision, once again siding with big business against the citizenry.

- Linda Felaco