The Supreme Court ruled in a 6 to 3 decision to restrain the federal government’s ability to regulate emissions at power plants.
The case declares it unlawful for federal agencies to make ‘major’ decisions without clear authorization from Congress. It appears to allow for regulations focused narrowly on capping pollution from smokestacks, but blocks wider rules that set state-by-state targets for emissions reduction or a cap-and-trade system that would trigger a faster shift to clean energy.
‘Capping carbon dioxide emissions at a level that will force a nationwide transition away from the use of coal to generate electricity may be a sensible ‘solution to the crisis of the day,’ Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his opinion for the court.
But he added that the Clean Air Act does not give the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the authority to do so.
‘A decision of such magnitude and consequence rests with Congress itself, or an agency acting pursuant to a clear delegation from that representative body,’ he wrote.
The court’s liberals, Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented.
‘Today, the court strips the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the power Congress gave it to respond to the most pressing environmental challenge of our time,’ Kagan wrote.
The ruling prevents the Biden administration from instituting the sort of sweeping emissions rules the EPA tried to implement under the Obama administration. The Supreme Court put Obama’s Clean Power Plan on hold in 2016, and it never took effect.
The court sided with coal power plants and GOP-led states in West Virginia v. EPA, reviewing an appeals court decision to axe the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) Rule, a Trump-era regulation that effectively gutted the Clean Power Plan.
Though the Clean Power Plan never took effect, the utility sector met its goals – a 32 percent reduction of carbon pollution from 2005 levels by 2030. The Biden administration had planned to write a fresh regulation and asked the Supreme Court to hold off on stepping in.
The Supreme Court ruled in a 6 to 3 decision to restrain the federal government’s ability to regulate emissions at power plants
The case declares it unlawful for federal agencies to make ‘major’ decisions without clear authorization from Congress
Instead of deciding on an existing rule, the Supreme Court set a precedent for Biden’s future rule, which was expected to fall in line with his goal for the entire U.S. power grid to run on clean energy by 2035.
‘It’s a bad decision and an unnecessary one, but the EPA can still limit greenhouse gases at the source under Section 111 and more broadly through other Clean Air Act provisions. In the wake of this ruling, EPA must use its remaining authority to the fullest,’ said Jason Rylander, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute, in a statement.
The question of how much power the EPA has was based on Section 111 of the Clean Air Act, which allows the agency power to set ‘standards of performance’ for air pollutants.
In its decision Thursday, the court took made its most significant climate case since 2007, when justices ruled in Massachusetts v. EPA that greenhouse gasses could be regulated as air pollutants under the Clean Air Act. Faced with deadlock in Congress, President Obama at the time sought to combat climate change by regulating power plants, the largest source of greenhouse gas behind the transportation industry.
The question before the justices was whether Congress must ‘speak with particular clarity when it authorizes executive agencies to address major political and economic questions.’ The court called it the ‘major questions doctrine.’
Biden said in a statement on the ruling: ‘The Supreme Court’s ruling in West Virginia v. EPA is another devastating decision that aims to take our country backwards. While this decision risks damaging our nation’s ability to keep our air clean and combat climate change, I will not relent in using my lawful authorities to protect public health and tackle the climate crisis.’
Some legal scholars worry the case could unravel much of the regulatory state – Biden’s agencies are currently defending in court wetlands protections, limits on car and truck pollution and insurance coverage for birth control.
‘Almost everything about these cases … [is] manufactured in an effort to return to an era free from oversight by the government,’ Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., wrote in a brief to the court.
Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer tore into the high court for ruling.
‘First on gun safety, then on abortion, and now on the environment – this MAGA, regressive, extremist Supreme Court is intent on setting America back decades, if not centuries,’ Schumer said. ‘The Republican-appointed majority of the MAGA Court is pushing the country back to a time when robbers barons and corporate elites have complete power and average citizens have no say.’
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez used the new decision to renew her calls for killing the Senate filibuster, the 60-vote hurdle needed to end debate on most legislation.
‘Catastrophic. A filibuster carveout is not enough. We need to reform or do away with the whole thing, for the sake of the planet,’ the New York Democrat wrote on Twitter.
‘The radical right-wing court has decided that our children don’t deserve a future on this planet. By eliminating the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions the court is promoting more climate change. Congress must right this wrong,’ New York Democratic Rep. Nydia Vasquez wrote on Twitter of the ruling.
‘The Supreme Court just sided with fossil fuel companies instead of siding with our future,’ said Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass.
‘The Supreme Court’s radical right majority just gutted the Clean Air Act, allowing coal companies to pollute without limits. Republicans tried and failed to undermine the Clean Air Act in Congress. Today, they’ve gotten the Supreme Court to do it for them,’ Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, wrote on Twitter.
West Virginia Republican Rep. Carol Miller celebrated the decision on Twitter.
‘This is a BIG win for West Virginia. D.C. bureaucrats shouldn’t be able to dictate how America’s energy producers operate. Innovation — not overregulation — is the key to revitalizing our energy industry and communities.’T
Ketanji Brown Jackson sworn in as first black female Supreme Court justice: Biden’s pick joins colleagues during turmoil after major decisions including overturning Roe v. Wade and overruling the EPA
Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in Thursday to the Supreme Court by Justice Stephen Breyer, whose seat she is taking with his retirement from the bench.
Brown recited the Judicial Oath back to Jackson as he officially became a retired justice and she took her post following her confirmation earlier this year.
Jackson makes history with the ceremony Thursday as the first black female to serve as a Supreme Court Justice.
‘On behalf of all of the members of the Court I am pleased to welcome Justice Jackson to the Court and to our common calling,’ conservative Chief Justice John Roberts said once the new justices completed her oath and shook Breyer’s hand.
Retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer (right) administered the Judicial Oath to his replacement Ketanji Jackson Brown (left) on Thursday
Breyer’s final term before handing his spot over to Jackson saw several controversial decisions with the recent 6-3 conservative majority following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The consequential term saw the landmark abortion case Roe v. Wade overturned, which eliminated federal protections for a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy and instead sent the issue back to the states.
President Joe Biden nominated Jackson after Breyer announced his retirement in January 2022.
The justices gathered Thursday for the swearing-in ceremony after their final two opinions of the term were issued on Thursday – including one that upheld Biden’s move to terminate the Trump-era Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP).
The other opinion was a 6 to 3 decision that restrains the federal government’s ability to regulate emissions at power plants.
The case declares it unlawful for federal agencies to make ‘major’ decisions without clear authorization from Congress.
‘Capping carbon dioxide emissions at a level that will force a nationwide transition away from the use of coal to generate electricity may be a sensible ‘solution to the crisis of the day,’ Roberts wrote in his opinion for the court.
Biden nominated Jackson to replace Stephen Breyer after he announced his retirement in January 2022. Jackson was confirmed in a Senate vote of 53-47 on April 7 to become the 116th Supreme Court justice
The court’s liberals, Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented.
Jackson’s confirmation hearing was contentious – as have been the last several confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominees under President Barack Obama, Donald Trump and now Biden.
At the helm of the controversy over Jackson’s confirmation was Republicans claiming that her record has shown her going entirely too easy on sentencing for child pornography offenders.
They claim that during her time as a judge on lower courts she went against the recommended sentencing to lower the punishment for offenders of viewers and distributors of child porn.
Spearheads of these claims were Senate Judiciary Republicans Josh Hawley of Missouri, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Ted Cruz of Texas.
In early April of this year, Jackson was confirmed in a Senate vote of 53-47 to become the 116th justice for the U.S. Supreme Court.
Three moderate Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine,Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitt Romney of Utah broke with their party to vote with Democrats for her confirmation.
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