In March 1857, in the famed Dred Scott decision, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that all blacks, slaves as well as free, were not and could never become citizens of the United States. It also declared the 1820 Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, thus permitting slavery in all territories and future new states. By 1861, the United States was fighting a Civil War.Sometimes the Supreme Court makes spectacularly bad decisions and this was manifest on April 2 when five of its nine members yielded to the specious argument by 12 states and several environmental organizations that the science of "global warming" was so conclusive it could declare carbon dioxide (CO2) should be regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as "a pollutant."
CO2 is not a pollutant. It exists in the Earth's atmosphere and every blade of grass and every great tree utterly depends on it. In that regard, other than the oxygen on which all living creatures depend, CO2 is the second-most essential gas for its ability to harness the sun's energy and, through photosynthesis, maintain every form of vegetation on Earth.
The court's ruling, however, ensures that the cost of every automobile, truck and tractor in America is likely to increase for no good reason. The many mandated formulations of gasoline that are part of its cost might also increase...
Here is the rest of Alan Caruba's excellent critique of last week's ridiculous Supreme Court ruling. It's from the Washington Times.
