NEW YORK - Attorney General Andrew Cuomo Monday announced he is suing the federal Environmental Protection Agency for failing to adopt regulations that control what it claims are emissions of global warming pollution from oil refineries. Cuomo is leading a group of 12 states, the District of Columbia, and the City of New York in a suit that challenges the EPAs refusal to require new or renovated oil refineries to install technologies that control global warming pollution, in violation of the Clean Air Act.

“The EPA’s refusal to control pollution from oil refineries is the latest example of the Bush Administrations do-nothing policy on global warming,” said Cuomo.  Oil refineries contribute substantially to global warming, posing grave threats to New York’s environment, health, and economy. “As long as the Bush EPA continues its blatant violation of the Clean Air Act and its shameful refusal to control global warming pollution, I will continue to fight them aggressively on all fronts.”

The suit charges that the EPA violated the Clean Air Act when it refused to issue standards - known as New Source Performance Standards  - for controlling global warming pollution emissions from oil refineries.  These standards ensure that new or renovated sources of air pollution install state-of-the-art emissions control technologies

The suit was filed in the federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.  Joining New York in the action are California, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia and the City of New York.