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Global warming
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.
Questions 1-5 Reading Passage 1 has six paragraphs A-F .
Choose the most suitable headings for paragraphs B-F from the list of headings below.
Write the appropriate numbers i-viii in boxes 1 - 5 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i The plaintiffs?viewpoints on regulating emission
ii Federal government being taken to court
iii Possible impact of the case on other lawsuits
iv Regulating air pollution by twelve States
v Stance of the Bush administration
vi Viewpoints of Bill Clinton on regulation
vii The call for emission caps and reduction
viii Uncertainty in ruling by the Supreme Court
Example Answer
Paragraph A ii
1. Paragraph B _____
2. Paragraph C _____
3. Paragraph D_____
4. Paragraph E _____
5. Paragraph F _____
Green states take the federal government to court
Nov 30th 2006
From The Economist print edition
A WHEN the subject is global warming，the villain is usually America . Although it produces a quarter of the greenhouse gases that are heating up the planet，it refuses to regulate them. When other countries agreed on an international treaty to do so——he Kyoto protocol——America failed to ratify it. But not all American officialdom is happy with the federal government's stance. In fact，12 states disagree so fiercely that they are suing to force it to curb emissions of carbon dioxide，the most common greenhouse gas. The Supreme Court heard argument in the case on November 29th. The outcome will not be known for months，but the political wind seems to be shifting in favour of firmer action to counter climate change.
B The Clean Air Act charges the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with regulating air pollution from vehicles. But the EPA argues that Congress did not intend to include CO2 under that heading，and that to do so would extend the EPA's authority to an unreasonable extent. Furthermore，it contends that regulating emissions would not do good unless all or most other countries did the same. That is in keeping with the policies of President George Bush，who opposes mandatory curbs on emissions and believes that any international accord on global warming should apply to all countries——unlike the Kyoto protocol，which exempts poor ones，including big polluters such as China and India . Ten states，among them gas-guzzling Texas and car-making Michigan，also back the EPA.
C The plaintiffs comprise 12 states，three cities，various NGOs，and American Samoa，a Pacific territory in danger of vanishing beneath the rising ocean. They are supported by a further six states，two power companies，a ski resort，and assorted clergymen，Indian tribes and agitated grandees such as Madeleine Albright，a former secretary of state. They point out that under the administration of Bill Clinton，the EPA decided that it did have the authority to regulate CO2. The act，they note，says the EPA should regulate any air pollutant that "may reasonably be interpreted to endanger public health or welfare". It goes on to define public welfare to include "effects on soils，water，crops，vegetation，manmade materials，animals，wildlife，weather，visibility，and climate".
D The Supreme Court may give a mixed ruling，decreeing that carbon dioxide is indeed a pollutant，but one the EPA is free to ignore or regulate as it pleases. Or it might dismiss the complaint on the grounds that the plaintiffs did not have the right to lodge it in the first place. In theory，they must prove that the EPA's foot-dragging has caused them some specific harm that regulation might remedy——a tall order in a field as fraught with uncertainty as climatology. Even if the court found in the plaintiffs' favour，rapid change is unlikely. By the time the EPA had implemented such a ruling，Congress would probably have superseded it with a new law.
E That is the point，environmental groups say. They want Congress to pass a law tackling global warming，and hope that a favourable court ruling will jolly the politicians along. Moreover，the case has a bearing on several other bitterly-contested lawsuits. Carmakers，for example，are trying to get the courts to strike down a Californian state law based on certain provisions of the Clean Air Act that require them to reduce their vehicles' CO2 emissions. If the Supreme Court decides that the act does not apply to CO2，then the Californian law would also be in jeopardy. That，in turn， would scupper the decision of ten other states to adopt the same standard.
