U.S. Supreme Court Clips EPA Role In Limiting Power Plant Emissions

The Supreme Court (SC) has limited the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to control power plant emissions, according to the New York Times.

Photo Insert: The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

At a time when scientists are expressing severe warnings about climate change, the decision appeared to rule out regulatory options such as a cap-and-trade system.

According to the Boston Globe, the court ruled 6-3, with conservatives in the majority, that the Clean Air Act does not grant the EPA wide jurisdiction to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants that contribute to global warming.

According to Ellen Knickmeyer of the Associated Press (AP), the same verdict signals the court is ready to block additional efforts by Biden and federal agencies to curb the climate-wrecking pollutants generated by oil, gas, and coal. It's a setback for Biden's pledge to cut emissions in the few years left to avoid higher and deadlier levels of global warming.

And it's also a reminder to Democrats at home and supporters across the world that Biden's options for reversing ex-President Donald Trump's legacy of mocking climate science are dwindling.

Trump's three Supreme Court nominees accounted for half of the affirmative votes in Thursday's 6-3 decision.

According to policy experts, the ruling now leaves the environmental lobby with several options for advancing climate measures. One is ambitious, shrewd executive action — if Biden dares — to enact carefully targeted emission-cutting measures. The second is climate action by California and other blue states, which had previously jumped into action to challenge Trump's climate rollbacks in court.

A third alternative is an argument that Biden and Democrats are increasingly making to voters: elect enough Democrats in the midterms to allow Congress to pass laws preventing conservative rollbacks in Congress and on the Supreme Court.

Biden has pledged to cut the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions in half by the end of the decade and to have an emissions-free power sector by 2035, Nancy Benac and Jennifer McDermott also reported for AP.

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