Mass. joins bid to force greenhouse gas curbs

"What we need is a national solution," Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said. "And that is why we are taking this action today. We are doing so as a last resort," he said.

The EPA said in August that it lacked authority from Congress to regulate greenhouse gases. It also denied a petition to impose controls on vehicles' greenhouse gas emissions, which are blamed for global warming.

The attorneys general said the EPA has acknowledged in testimony to Congress in 1998, 1999, and 2000 that the Clean Air Act gives the agency power to regulate pollution that causes global warming.

By refusing to regulate the greenhouse gases the EPA is reversing the position it held during the Clinton administration, they said.

"The vacuum of leadership on global warming by the Bush administration is a betrayal of the best interests of the American people," New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said.

The states involved in the court action are Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. California is filing separately. More states are expected to join the petitions, Blumenthal said.

John Millett, an EPA spokesman, said the agency is not concerned about the number of states filing petitions.