In brief
In a notable shift, the conservative-majority Supreme Court has declined to block an EPA rule requiring major reductions in power plant emissions, signaling potential support for stricter environmental regulations.
In a significant development regarding environmental policy, the Supreme Court has recently chosen not to obstruct an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. This decision represents a potential pivot in the Court's trajectory towards environmental regulations, leaving some analysts hopeful for a shift after years of challenging regulatory measures.The contested rule mandates coal and gas-burning power plants to capture up to 90 percent of their greenhouse gas emissions by 2032, a critical step for addressing climate change. West Virginia led the challenge against these new restrictions, but the Court declined to intervene while the matter is being reviewed in lower courts. Additionally, the Court similarly stepped back from two other emergency applications targeting EPA regulations concerning mercury and methane emissions, further emphasizing its recent reluctance to impede regulatory measures.These three decisions in favor of the EPA come on the heels of a controversial earlier ruling this year, where the Court halted the “good neighbor plan” which sought to tackle air pollution crossing state borders. This had raised concerns among environmental advocates about the increasing use of emergency interventions by the Supreme Court to block regulations without thorough explanation, commonly referred to as the “shadow docket.”Professors and legal experts have interpreted this latest Supreme Court action as a noteworthy deviation from the pattern established years prior, notably when the Court previously blocked President Obama’s Clean Power Plan. The current decisions may signal a more supportive stance towards environmental regulation under the Biden administration, suggesting that previous restrictive approaches could be reevaluated in future cases.
