US Supreme Court Supports Drastic Emissions Cuts: 
Three Time’s the Charm

“The strongest action by an American president to tackle climate change.”
—“The Politics of Obama’s Climate Move,” The New York Times, June 2, 2014
by Katherine Russell

In a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court voted on June 23 to uphold most of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to radically cut carbon pollution. 

The ruling gives needed support to the Clean Power Plan, which proposes to reduce power plant emissions by 30 percent over 2005 levels by 2030, while setting the “first-ever national pollution carbon standards,” according to the White House.

The court confirmed the EPA’s authority to regulate carbon emissions from power plants—the linchpin of Obama’s Climate Action Plan. “It bears mention that EPA is getting almost everything it wanted in this case,” Justice Antonin Scala’s opinion said.  

Instead of 86 percent of nationwide holdings initially requested, the EPA will be able to regulate 83 percent of sources responsible for carbon emissions—a negligible loss of 3 percent.

The case brought by power companies and 13 states argued that the EPA was exceeding its powers by using air quality rules to address global warming. 

As the decision puts Obama’s climate plan into force, it may impact any future legal challenges to the new power plant rules brought by conservative groups and Republican states. Republicans in Congress stopped an earlier climate change initiative while denying the fact of its very existence.  

Because of this opposition, Obama decided last year to use his executive authority and previous Supreme Court actions to bypass Congress to cut carbon pollution.

Although the vote was tight, its supporters feel the momentum is on the side of the EPA, since the decision is the third time the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of its authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.  

The court may also decline trying any further cases challenging the broad power of the EPA. “Now more than ever, it’s clear that EPA’s authority to set standards for carbon pollution—the basis of Obama’s Climate Action Plan—is firmly settled on solid [legal] ground,” said David Doniger, climate and clean air director at Natural Resources Defense Council.

On June 2, the EPA announced the Clean Power Plan, a potentially transformative new body of environmental rules. If the plan is passed, it will be the single most significant climate change action ever undertaken by any U.S. President.

“It’s the most important action available to cut U.S. emissions—and the Obama administration has seized the opportunity,” said Andrew Steer, chief executive of the World Resources Institute. “These new standards send a powerful message around the world that it’s time to face the global threat of climate change.”

 According to United Nations Climate Chief Christiana Figueres, the new rules could even translate into negotiations for a global climate change deal.
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 “Right now there are no national limits to the amount of carbon pollution that existing plants can pump into the air we breathe. None,” Obama said in his weekly radio address prior to the EPA announcement. “They can dump unlimited amounts of carbon pollution into the air. It’s not smart, it’s not safe, and it doesn’t make sense.”

The EPA is accepting public comments until October 16, 2014.  People can comment by fax, email, U.S. mail and on its website, as well as attend public hearings held throughout the U.S. the last week of July.

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Posted September 2014

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