WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court Monday tossed out a global warming lawsuit by five states against Ohio-based American Electric Power and three other private power companies, ruling that the federal government has the authority to regulate emissions of greenhouse gasses.

In an 8-0 ruling, the justices rejected pleas by state officials that they could turn to the federal courts to force utility powers to cap their emissions of carbon dioxide, which is believed to cause global warming.

Writing for the court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote that Congress concluded that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was “best suited to serve as primary regulator of greenhouse gas emissions. The expert agency is surely better equipped to do the job than individual district judges issuing ad hoc, case-by-case injunctions.’’

Ginsburg wrote that individual federal judges “lack authority to render precedential decisions binding other judges – even members of the state court.’’

Melissa McHenry, a spokeswoman for AEP, said that “as we’ve said since the day the lawsuit was filed, states and private parties should look to Congress and not the courts to set policies on climate change and greenhouse gas regulation.’’

She said the court’s ruling “ensures that power generators and other companies can continue to operate in accordance with environmental regulations without the threat of incurring substantial costs defending against climate litigation.’’

With its ruling, the justices overturned a decision by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit which had cleared the way for the lawsuits to continue. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a former member of that appeals court, did not take part in the case.

The suit was filed in 2004 by eight states, including California and New York, and was aimed at AEP, three other private utilities and the federally owned Tennessee Valley Authority, which operate coal-fired power plants in 21 states. They collectively emit annual emissions of 650 million tons.

But in her decision, Ginsburg pointed that since the lawsuit was filed, the justices in 2007 ruled that emissions of carbon dioxide can be regulated by the EPA under the 1970 and 1990 Clean Air Acts. In 2009, the EPA concluded that greenhouse gasses could cause air pollution, endanger public health and could be regulated by the agency.