I have been of the view that climate change regulation would happen through the executive branch and the EPA, and that this course might, in fact, be preferable to other avenues.   The Supreme Court’s decision in Massachusetts v. EPA permitted the EPA to go forward with regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Air.  And now with the government’s brief in AEP v. Conn., arguing that common law claims are not available, and no hope of passing climate legislation in Congress, this seems to be the path.  Greenwire’s two topic articles today sum the story up best with their titles– “Obama admin urges Supreme Court to vacate ‘nuisance’ ruling” and “With Hill hopes dashed, advocates circle wagons at EPA.”

UPDATE: An interesting take on this over at Legal Planet.