New York and 11 other states are suing the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions from oil refineries.

The states' suit charges that the EPA has failed to include in its air-pollution control rules standards to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions. That is a violation of the Clean Air Act, according to the suit filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are air pollutants under the Clean Air Act which the Bush administration has legal authority to regulate.

So far, the EPA has not moved to do so although it is taking public comments to consider for greenhouse-gas regulations under the Clean Air Act, the Wall Street Journal reported. Emissions from vehicles as well as manufacturing plants such as refineries would be targeted.

The oil companies have resisted such measures, saying the Clean Air Act is not the right mechanism, that it is unwieldy and costly. "What we need is a deliberative concerted effort that takes into account greenhouse gases but also economic concerns," said Charles T. Drevna of the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association, an industry trade group.

Unfortunately, the EPA has been reluctant to deal with the issue. New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo said: "The EPA's refusal to control pollution from oil refineries is the latest example of the Bush administration's do-nothing policy on global warming."

It is true the administration has been remiss in this and other areas of environmental protection.