You have heard about last week's federal appeals court decision that overturned a Bush Administration clean air regulation. Doesn't sound like anything new or notable, but it is! For the first time in ages, the enviros and the White House are upset about the same thing. In fact, even the the Natural Resources Defense Council, who probably never sided with the current Administration on anything said, "This is probably the biggest air quality setback ever suffered by the EPA under any administration." Damn.

The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by electric companies and the state of North Carolina against EPA regarding its Clean Air Interstate Rule, which uses cap-and-trade to reduce nitrous oxide and sulfur dioxide emissions throughout 28 eastern states. North Carolina complained the law wasn't strict enough to allow the state to adequately enforce it, while the companies claimed that the agency picked arbitrary reduction targets. The court agreed with the companies, called the program "fundamentally flawed" and told the EPA to go back to the drawing board.

More than a few companies are peeved, given the amont of money they'd already invested in preparing for the cap-and-trade program (note that the pollutants aren't greenhouse gases), which they had generally been in favor of, and had not expected the court to throw the baby out with the bathwater.