EPA Loses its Ability to Regulate Carbon Emissions

The Supreme Court on Thursday limited the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate carbon emissions from power plants, dealing a blow to the Biden administration’s efforts to address climate change, writes The New York Times.
The vote was 6 to 3, with the court’s three liberal justices in dissent, saying that the majority had stripped the E.P.A. of "the power to respond to the most pressing environmental challenge of our time."
Supreme Court Curbs E.P.A.’s Authority to Address Climate Change (The New York Times)
In his opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote: In "certain extraordinary cases, both separation of powers principles and a practical understanding of legislative intent make us 'reluctant to read into ambiguous statutory text' the delegation claimed to be lurking there. To convince us otherwise, something more than a merely plausible textual basis for the agency action is necessary. The agency instead must point to 'clear congressional authorization' for the power it claims."
Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her dissent: "Today, the court strips the EPA of the power Congress gave it to respond to the most pressing environmental challenge of our time. It deprives EPA of the power needed — and the power granted — to curb the emission of greenhouse gases."
Supreme Court restricts the EPA's authority to mandate carbon emissions (NPR)
Embed from Getty ImagesAccording to The Wall Street Journal, the decision was in line with several Supreme Court decisions in recent years that reined in federal agencies by striking down regulations on the grounds that agencies had usurped power from Congress and the judicial branch.
Supreme Court Limits Environmental Protection Agency’s Authority (The Wall Street Journal)
UPDATE: In a related development, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in as the newest Supreme Court Justice, replacing the now-retired Justice Breyer.
Embed from Getty ImagesJump to this week's edition of:
World News
US News
Politics
Culture
Business
Innovation
Special Report