The U.S. Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision has restricted the U.S. EPA’s authority to curb greenhouse gases from power plants, siding with coal-mining companies and Republican-led states in a blow to President Joe Biden’s climate-change agenda.
Writing for the court, Chief Justice John Roberts said Congress needs to speak more explicitly to give an agency that much power. “A decision of such magnitude and consequence rests with Congress itself, or an agency acting pursuant to a clear delegation from that representative body.”
The ruling casts fresh doubt on Biden’s pledge to reduce U.S. emissions in half by the end of the decade and his goal of a carbon-free electric grid by 2035. Hitting those targets will be impossible without regulations to stifle greenhouse gases from oil wells, automobiles, and power plants, as well as tax incentives designed to spur clean energy, according to several analyses.
A White House spokesperson characterized the ruling as a devastating decision that damages the administration’s ability to address climate change. The White House also called on Congress to act, something the high court decision left as a possibility.
Roberts pointed to a “major questions” doctrine, saying “we presume that Congress intends to make major policy decisions itself, not leave those decisions to agencies.” However, in the past, the court has opted for the Chevron doctrine, which says courts must defer to agencies’ reasonable interpretation of laws passed by Congress.
Under Chevron rules, the court could have said that, since Congress’s grant of statutory authority to EPA was ambiguous, it would allow the EPA regulation applying that grant to stand.
The court’s reasoning could spur challenges to other federal regulations, from EPA automobile emissions curbs to vaccine mandates from the Centers for Disease Control, particularly when issues of congressional authorization are involved.
The court’s three Democratic-appointed justices – Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan – blasted the ruling. In a dissent by Justice Kagan, she said, “The Court appoints itself – instead of Congress or the expert agency – the decision maker on climate policy. I cannot think of many things more frightening.”