The U.S. Supreme Court has limited the ability of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate power plant greenhouse gas emissions, and though the court’s opinion referred to a fairly narrow provision within the Clean Air Act, the ruling potentially places broad restrictions on the ability of federal agencies to enact regulations to address the climate crisis, according to several sources.
The key question in West Virginia v. EPA—a decision released on June 30, the final day of the court’s term—was whether EPA exceeded its authority in re-interpreting statutory language within the federal Clean Air Act, specifically Section 111(d), to set emission-reduction goals beyond individual power plants to entire systems in its 2015 Clean Power Plan. In rereading that provision of the statute, the Obama administration’s EPA said it had authority to help facilitate the U.S. energy transition from coal-fired power to cleaner natural gas and renewables.