[JURIST] A judge for the Albany County State Supreme Court [official website] in New York on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit challenging New York’s membership in the multi-state climate pact, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) [program website]. The judge dismissed the case because it was filed too late [Reuters report] and it failed to state specific damages. The lawsuit, which was filed last June, came more than three years after New York joined the RGGI. State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman [official website] praised [press release] the decision as a victory for the environmental cause:

RGGI offers a cost-effective, efficient way to reduce the pollution that contributes to climate change. I applaud the court for soundly rejecting this attempt—backed by out-of-state political interests—to stop New York from protecting its own citizens against the potentially devastating impacts of climate change. I will continue to use the full force of my office to vigorously defend sensible efforts that reduce climate change pollution and, thereby, protect the health and welfare of New Yorkers.

The RGGI is an effort by the states of New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The states expect to have reduced their emissions by 10 percent by 2018.

Greenhouse gas emissions and global warming [JURIST news archive] are controversial topics in the US. A federal judge ruled in October that the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is not obligated to reduce green house gas emissions [JURIST report] in order to protect polar bears. In September the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that the effects of global warming are not covered [JURIST report] by a standard liability insurance policy. Earlier last year the US Supreme Court ruled [JURIST report] in American Electric Power Co. v. Connecticut [Cornell LII backgrounder] that the Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Air Act [text] displace claims made under the federal common law of nuisance regarding whether electric utilities contributed to global warming. All eight justices agreed in rejecting the claims by eight states, New York City and three private land trusts invoking the federal common law for public nuisance against four power companies and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) [official website].