The Supreme Court places restrictions on the United States’ most important anti-pollution law.
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The US Supreme Court, which has a conservative majority, issued a ruling on Thursday limiting the authorities’ power to regulate emissions from power plants that contribute to global warming.
It is the environmental authority Enviroment Protection Agency’s (EPA) which now has limited authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from existing coal and gas power plants under the Pollution Control Act «Clean Air Act».
The White House calls the ruling both crushing and backward.
– The ruling can destroy our ability to keep the air clean and fight climate change. President Biden will not give up using the means of power he has in the law to protect public health and cope with the climate crisis.
A White House spokesman said.
President Joe Biden’s goal is to reduce US emissions by 50 percent by 2030, and to achieve an emission-free power sector by 2035. Today, power plants account for around 30 percent of US CO emissions.
Important player
The Clean Air Act was passed in 1970 and has been called the world’s most powerful environmental law. The law has since been the source of a number regulations on air pollution.
The ruling will probably make it more difficult for Joe Biden to fight climate change. According to the plan, he will submit a proposal by the end of the year to regulate emissions from the power sector.
At the same time as the Supreme Court was considering the case, the UN stated that climate change was getting worse. Among the consequences are more disease, hunger, poverty and unrest in the coming years.
Today, only China emits more greenhouse gases than the United States. The country is thus a key player in combating global climate change.
Lawsuit dismissed
Behind the dispute over emissions from the power plants lies a long and complicated history. It started with former President Barack Obama wanting the states to reduce emissions through the “Clean Power Plan”. This was to be done by shifting electricity production away from coal-fired power plants.
However, this plan was blocked by the Supreme Court as a result of court rulings in West Virginia and other coal states, and thus never implemented.
When Donald Trump came to power, the Trump-appointed head of the EPA abolished the entire plan. A new plan was also drawn up which deprived the EPA of much of its power.
New York and 21 other Democratic states, as well as Washington DC and some of the largest cities in the United States, sued. A federal appeals court overturned both the new plan and dismissed the lawsuit. Thus, nothing was left.
Obama’s cuts implemented nonetheless
The cuts the Obama plan should reach by 2030 have already been implemented. This is because hundreds of coal-fired power plants are closed by market guns. It costs much more to extract coal than to extract cleaner energy.
It was mostly Republican-led states, coal-fired power plants and coal-friendly interest groups that led the fight against the EPA’s authority to regulate emissions.
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