SCOTUS Considers Climate Change Case

The Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday in West Virginia v. EPA, a case that asks whether the federal government can broadly regulate carbon emissions from existing power plants.

• Currently, no law exists that directly limits power plants from emitting CO2. The Republican attorneys general of 18 states are seeking to block potential climate initiatives that the Biden administration could propose in the future.
• Yesterday, they argued before the Court that the decision to regulate GHG emissions should be left to Congress rather than the executive branch.
• On the other side, many of the nation’s largest electric utilities – the companies that would be subject to such regulation – filed legal briefs in support of the government, along with 192 members of Congress and tech giants like Apple, Google and Netflix.
• They argued the executive branch is merely implementing laws that Congress already made. Specifically, they cite the 1970 Clean Air Act, which gives the EPA broad authority to regulate air pollution (including GHGs per a 5-4 SCOTUS decision in 2007, which may end up being overturned).
• Those EPA powers are considered essential to President Biden’s climate agenda, since Democrats have a limited ability to pass new legislation due to their razor-thin margin in the Senate.

👀⚖️ Looking ahead... The Court’s decision is expected before July.

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