Supreme Court Rules on Global Warming

In a 5-4 ruling the Supreme Court told the Bush administration it cannot claim that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not have the authority to regulate the greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

In 2003, the administration and EPA argued that the EPA didn't have the authority to regulate these gases.

While this case has worked its way through the EPA and the courts, scientific evidence of global warming has continued to mount, according to EarthJustice.

In other environmental news, the Public Utility Commission (PUC) has recommended a $210 million fine against TXU.

"TXU would pay $210 million in penalties for alleged abuse of the electricity market under recommendations by the Texas Public Utility Commission," said writer R.A. Dyer. "The proposed fine stems from an earlier regulatory investigation that TXU Energy engaged in unfair trading practices in the wholesale electricity market and as a result racked up $20 million in unfair profit."

Dyer said that prepared by a consulting firm under contract to Texas regulators, the report specifically found that TXU improperly drove up some wholesale electricity prices by 15.5 percent during the summer of 2005.

According to research, in a statement from the PUC, the staff there recommended that the utility be required to pay administrative penalties of $140 million and refunds of $70 million.

A recent article stated that the earlier report, which was released March 12, was the result of an examination of a three-month period when some wholesale electricity prices spiked to higher-than-usual levels.

"The consultants examined TXU's ability to drive up wholesale prices during key periods by holding back energy from relatively efficient generators," writes Dyer. "The PUC issued a similar report from the same consultants about two-and-a-half years ago that also concluded that TXU could unilaterally drive up wholesale power prices."

The company's trading practices also came under regulatory scrutiny after a cold snap in February 2003, when energy that typically sold for less than $50 by a megawatt-hour shot up to $990 per mwh, wrote Dyer.