BOSTON – Senator John Kerry today issued the following statement praising Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley for her bold efforts to fight climate change and require the Bush Administration to act.

On April 2, 2007, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Massachusetts (and other petitioners), finding that the EPA has the authority to regulate CO2 and other greenhouse gases. This historic opinion has major implications for national and local climate change policy -- not only does it open the door to regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, but is also likely to prompt action in Congress to pass comprehensive federal climate change legislation.

Yet despite the court ruling which ordered the agency to reconsider its refusal to limit emissions from new cars and trucks under the Clean Air Act, there has been no further action. Coakley has therefore filed a petition requiring the EPA to comply with the court order, hoping to force the administration to do their job.

“Massachusetts and other states have stepped up to the plate to try to protect our environment from the failed policies of the Bush Administration, which has consistently failed to take the countless scientific warnings about greenhouse gas emissions seriously. The Supreme Court’s ruling was loud and clear. The agency received their marching orders - determine whether greenhouse gases are threatening human health and the environment and regulate them. Yet the Bush Administration has repeatedly refused to act,” said Senator Kerry. “Attorney General Coakely has shown the foresight and the leadership that the people of Massachusetts deserve. Our state has led the way for the nation and we will keep fighting until a serious solution to climate change is enacted.”

###