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Finally...by only a hair's breadth:

In a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that greenhouse gases are pollutants under the Clean Air Act. Today's ruling has far-reaching implications for broader efforts to address the urgent problem of global warming and the timing of solutions. The Supreme Court's ruling that the Clean Air Act expressly authorizes the E.P.A. to regulate carbon dioxide emissions was a strong rebuke to the Bush administration. The court further ruled that the agency could not sidestep its authority to regulate the greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change unless it could provide a scientific basis for its refusal.

This is a significant milestone, as it was the court's first ruling that involves global warming.

The 5-to-4 decision was a strong rebuke to the Bush administration, which has maintained that it does not have the right to regulate carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases under the Clean Air Act, and that even if it did, it would not use the authority. The ruling does not force the environmental agency to regulate auto emissions, but it would almost certainly face further legal action if it failed to do so.

Environmental Defense, one of the plaintiffs, has the background skinny, too:

The case arose from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's reversal in 2003 of its authority to limit global warming pollution from new motor vehicles. (See timeline for details.) EPA reasoned that global warming pollution did not constitute an "air pollutant" within the meaning of the federal Clean Air Act, contrary to its opinion under the Clinton administration. But the term "air pollutant" is expansively defined to encompass "any" "substance or matter which is emitted into or otherwise enters the ambient air."

The federal government also claims that the states and environmental organizations are not injured by the adverse effects of global warming pollution and therefore lack "standing" to even bring this case before the Supreme Court.

This is just the beginning...

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