(Host) The Supreme Court has blocked a federal lawsuit by several states including Vermont that tried to force cuts in greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.
The court ruled that the authority to seek reductions in emissions rests with the Environmental Protection Agency, not the courts.
Vermont and seven other states banded together to sue. The other states were California, Connecticut, Iowa, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.
The EPA says it will decide by next year whether to order utilities to cut emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.
The lawsuit targeted the five largest emitters of carbon dioxide in the United States.