Supreme Court Curbs the Federal Government’s Ability to Fight Climate Change

A 6–3 decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts will limit the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate power plants and fight climate change, a huge blow to the Biden Administration and their attempt to cut down on emission levels. The Supreme Court ruled that the EPA does not have the broad authority to regulate power plants and emissions which was granted by the lower court.

The lower court had previously authorized an Obama rule which regulated power plants and emissions but had rejected a subsequence Trump rule. However, the Supreme Court is now denying the EPA’s authority that the Obama Administration said it had.

A further setback to the Biden Administration and the EPA is brought by the Supreme Court invoking the “major questions” doctrine, which states that if Congress does not give an agency explicit powers to an issue, the agency will not be able to move forward and enact regulations regarding the issue. This will impact the federal government’s ability to regulate not just power plants, but other issues that have political and economic implications that may potentially mitigate climate change.

While scientists are warning us about the fast pace at which global warming is impacting our planet, the Supreme Court has unfortunately set the federal government back and left us with fewer means to deal with the pressing and eminent issue of climate change.