Fossil carbon pollution may be States' property before release into the atmosphere but once released, the pollution is effectively being exported all over the world. As such it would come under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth.
One serious sting in the tail of this possible action is the fate of sequestered CO2. If the pollutant is state property before release, then it could remain state property if sequestered. Problems arising from the inadvertent escape of the pollutant could be sheeted home to the states. Not a good outcome when sequestered carbon pollution needs to be kept isolated for millennia.
