The US Supreme Court has ruled that the federal government’s key environmental agency cannot set wide-ranging limits on greenhouse gasses.
The US Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the federal government did not have broad authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. The decision was a blow to the administration of President Joe Biden, whose Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sought to tackle climate change.
The ruling was decided by a 6-3 vote, with conservatives in the majority, would constrain the EPA’s ability to issue any regulations on power plants, which currently account for roughly 30% of carbon-dioxide output.
Biden has sought to halve US greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the decade while calling for an emissions-free power sector by 2035.
Justice Roberts: Congress owns solution
Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his opinion for the court that while “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,” the federal government did not have the authority to do this under the existing Clean Air Act.
“A decision of such magnitude and consequence rests with Congress itself, or an agency acting pursuant to a clear delegation from that representative body,” Roberts wrote.
Dissenting Justice Elena Kagan pushed back, writing that the decision strips the EPA of the power Congress gave it to respond to “the most pressing environmental challenge of our time.”
“The Court appoints itself instead of Congress or the expert agency the decisionmaker on climate policy. I cannot think of many things more frightening,” she added.
White House to ‘move forward’
Lawyers for the White House said they will study the Supreme Court’s ruling so that the Biden administration can find ways to move forward under existing federal law, a spokesperson said.
“President Biden will not relent in using the authorities that he has under law to protect public health and tackle the climate change crisis,” the White House spokesperson said.
Reuters
