The District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday denied an attempt by industry groups and the state of Texas to halt implementation of greenhouse gas regulations developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the federal Clean Air Act. The court's order found that industry's allegations of harm supposedly caused by the regulations were "speculative" rather than "certain," and thus failed the legal test for issuing a "stay," or suspension, of the regulations.

At issue were several EPA actions, including the agency's science-based finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare; its regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from passenger cars and trucks; and its rules requiring sources of greenhouse gases like refineries and power plants to obtain permits and show they're using the best available emissions control technology before undertaking construction. Those rules will now go into effect as planned on Jan. 2, 2011.