Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard its first global warming case, Massachusetts v. EPA. In this case, Massachusetts, New York and several other states are, quite simply, suing the Environmental Protection Agency so that it will regulate greenhouse gas emissions. They want the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions from cars, trucks, SUVs, Hummers, and factories. We can expect a ruling early next year.

The EPA, along with four motor vehicle trade associations and two utility company coalitions, however, insists that their agency doesn't have the authority to limit greenhouse gases emissions. As part of their case, the EPA's lawyers have challenged the science behind global warming.

When I heard that part, it made me smile. I'm not a lawyer, but I've watched enough Law & Order episodes to detect a weak link when I hear one.

On the day that the Supreme Court heard both arguments, at least two major global warming studies made headlines, joining the growing body of scientific evidence that the planet is, in fact, getting hotter. New data to support global warming is now so common that I come across a new article almost every day. Nearly all of them paint a pretty bleak scenario for the polar bears, among other things.

Yesterday's headlines informed us that Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization published a study showing that carbon dioxide has doubled in our atmosphere since 1990. The second report told us that climactic data gathered in New York shows rising average temperatures and a hotter atmosphere for the state.

The article noted that national science academies in the U.S., Britain, Canada, and eight other countries issued a joint statement saying, "There is now strong evidence that significant global warming is occurring." It will be hard to find more credible group of scientists who say otherwise.

In other words, calling the scientific data behind this phenomenon into doubt is likely to backfire. Politics aside, anyone who is paying attention to the news right now has probably figured out that (1) global warming does pose a threat to our environment; (2) we need an agency that is ready to step up and do something about it.

And I'm willing to bet that most Supreme Court Justices are paying attention. Especially if they have beach-front property.