Can Global Warming Denialism Prevail in the Courts?

Excellent post by Plumer about the challenge to the EPA’s authority to issue regulations pertaining to greenhouse gases.   If outright denialist arguments don’t prevail, they could succeed in getting the regulations made impractical enough that Congress is likely to withdraw authority.  (Something they haven’t done, it’s important to add when considering arguments that the EPA is exceeding its authority, since the Supreme Court confirmed the EPA’s authority to issue the regulations in 2007.)

It seems relevant to note here that Obama is likely to be the first president in several decades not to get a nominee to the D.C. Circuit confirmed, and not for a lack of vacancies.   And while Senate obstructionism is certainly a major part of the story, Obama’s unwillingness to make this a priority (especially with the possibility of major new legislation ended by the 2010 midterms) is very strange, and is likely to have deleterious long-term effects.