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The article reports that U.S. President George W. Bush's signature air-quality measure is in trouble, with the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee still deadlocked. Clean Air Subcommittee Chairman George Voinovich, Republican from Ohio offered a manager's amendment that made several changes to their original proposal to appease opponents, including moving the emissions deadlines up two years to 2016 and requiring Environmental Protection Agency to address mercury hot spots. Most committee Democrats are pushing for mandatory carbon dioxide caps, though Clean Air Subcommittee ranking member Thomas Carper, Democrat from Delaware, hinted that there might be a compromise.

A group of 12 states, environmental organizations and the cities of New York and Baltimore today filed a lawsuit against the United States administration challenging the decision of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to not to regulate carbon dioxide, the chief contributor to global warming. State attorneys general from states ranging from New York and Maine to Washington and New Mexico were joined by more than a dozen environmental groups and the government of American Samoa in filing the suit. The attorneys general argue the administration erred in ruling August 28, 2003 that it does not have regulatory authority under the Clean Air Act to control carbon dioxide emissions and are seeking to compel EPA to do so.