After Supreme Court ruling, can EPA still tackle climate change?
On its final day of a historic term, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday placed major restrictions on the ability of the federal government to address climate change.
The 6-3 ruling was narrower in scope than some environmental advocates had feared from the conservative supermajority. But while it won’t have the immediate transformative effects of some of the court’s other major decisions this term, it has the potential to significantly alter federal regulatory power over what is widely viewed as the most urgent environmental issue for the nation – and the world.
In its decision, the high court fleshed out a vague area of law known as the major questions doctrine – essentially that federal agencies can’t take major actions without clear direction in law from Congress – and how it applies to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Absent explicit congressional action – for which the Biden administration has been lobbying, so far fruitlessly – federal courts may now be poised to play a major role as referees in future EPA efforts to tackle climate change.
For those wary of the executive branch taking unilateral actions
