"A battle over whether states can use nuisance laws to curb greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants will come to the Supreme Court Tuesday in a case that puts a twist on the debate over climate policy.

The case pits a coalition of states against five of the nation's biggest power companies and the Obama administration, which has said it intends to curb greenhouse-gas emissions from big utilities but objects to the way the states want to do it.

The arguments come amid a running dispute between the administration and members of Congress who want to block the Environmental Protection Agency's effort to regulate the carbon dioxide pumped out of power plant smokestacks as a hazardous pollutant under the Clean Air Act.

At issue is whether a state can seek a federal court order to force power plants in another state to curb emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases linked to climate change on grounds that those emissions create a public nuisance."

Jess Bravin And Stephen Power report for the Wall St. Journal April 18, 2011. [2]