Connecticut v. American Electric Power Co.

The Second Circuit vacated a lower court decision and reinstated a lawsuit by eight states and New York City against six large electric power generators that sought to limit the generators’ greenhouse gas emissions by claiming that these emissions contributed to the public nuisance of climate change. In 2005, the district court dismissed the lawsuit, holding that the claims represented “non-judiciable political questions.” The Second Circuit reversed, holding that although Congress has enacted laws affecting air pollution, none of those laws has displaced federal common law. The court stated that there may be a time where federal laws and regulations preempt the field of common law nuisance, but that this had not yet occurred.