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In Court

  • 30/07/2006

relief declined: The Krishna Water Tribunal declined to grant an interim relief on the applications filed by Maharashtra and Karnataka seeking the tribunal's intervention in restraining the lower riparian state of Andhra Pradesh from going ahead with the construction of 11 projects in the Krishna and Godavari basins. The three-member tribunal further said that use of surplus water in questionable projects by Andhra Pradesh will not entitle it to raise any claim on grounds of prior utilisation or committed use. The petitions of Maharashtra and Karnataka were regarding the inter-state dispute concerning the Krishna River Valley.

federal dominance: Putting an end to the pollution battle between the states of the us and the federal government, the us Supreme Court has finally agreed to consider whether the government should regulate greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide emitted from cars and energy producers.

A dozen states and environmental groups contend that carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping chemicals from automobile tailpipes should be treated as unhealthy pollutants.

They had filed a case at the us court of appeals in an effort to force the Environmental Protection Agency to curtail such emissions just as it does carcinogenic lead and chemicals that produce smog and acid rain. But the court recently sided with the government and said carbon dioxide is not a pollutant under federal laws and that the government would have discretion over whether or not to regulate it.

Arguments at the Supreme Court will be held later this year. If it disagrees with the federal court, it could have a profound impact on American life; it could pave the way, for example, for car manufacturers to be forced to improve fuel efficiency as a way of reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

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