[JURIST] Leading Thursday's environmental law news, a federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by 8 states against four private energy companies and the federal Tennessee Valley Authority [official website] which claimed they contributed to global warming. US District Judge Loretta Preska [profile] ruled [opinion text, PDF] that the states wanted the judiciary to make environmental policies that would affect the economy, national security and foreign policy, decisions that should be made by "the political branches that are accountable to the people, not [by] the judiciary." AP has more.

In other environmental law news...

• A bill is being prepared by Senator James Inhofe, chairman of the US Senate Environment and Public Works Committee [official website], that would allow the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [official website] to temporarily relax its rules following Hurricane Katrina. A preliminary draft of the bill gives the EPA administrator power for 120 days to "waive or modify" EPA's laws and regulations if "necessary to respond, in a timely and effective manner, to a situation or damage relating to Hurricane Katrina." The governors of affected states would be consulted before any changes in EPA rules are made. AP has more.