In a 5-4 decision on June 23, the Supreme Court ruled that EPA erred in the permitting processes for new carbon-cutting rules. However, most of the Clean Power Plant rule that reduces emissions 30 percent will not be affected.
The Supreme Court "blocked the Obama administration from requiring special permits for some new power plants, but upheld them for others," writes David G. Savage, the Los Angeles Times Supreme Court reporter.
In a dense 5-4 decision [PDF] Monday, the justices said the Environmental Protection Agency had wrongly stretched an anti-pollution provision of the Clean Air Act to cover carbon emissions in new or modified plants.
E&E reporter Jeremy P. Jacobs writes that the ruling stems from litigation brought by "(u)tilities, several industry trade groups and a dozen states (who) challenged EPA's suite of greenhouse gas regulations, including the auto standards and EPA's finding that the gases endanger public health."
Savage writes that "the ruling was confined to only one regulatory provision, and it is not likely to directly affect the broader climate change policy that the administration announced earlier this month."
The agency preferred to focus the rules on large industrial facilities. Although that move exempted most businesses from regulation, it also left EPA open to attack from industry lawyers, who accused it of rewriting the law to support its regulations.
However, Savage tweets that the ruling "is not expected to affect administration's broader greenhouse gas rules."
FULL STORY: Supreme Court limits EPA authority on power plants
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EPA's new Clean Power Plan Rule has taken on a political life of its own, with coal states adamantly opposed, helping those who allege that the administration is waging a "war on coal." We also look at the basis of the rule in the 1970 Clean Air Act.
25 Coal Power Plants to Shutter in Michigan in Five Years
Credit EPA emission regulations for the decisions by utilities to close the aging plants. Michigan receives half its power from coal—the most polluting fossil fuel. The new Clean Power Plan rule will cause more remaining plants to close in time.
Supreme Court Puts Obama's Key Climate Initiative on 'Hold'
In an unusual move that doesn't portend well for the EPA initiative, the Supreme Court ruled that the Clean Power Plan Rule that reduces emissions from existing power plants be suspended while it is heard by the Court of Appeals this summer.
Analysis: Cybertruck Fatality Rate Far Exceeds That of Ford Pinto
The Tesla Cybertruck was recalled seven times last year.
National Parks Layoffs Will Cause Communities to Lose Billions
Thousands of essential park workers were laid off this week, just before the busy spring break season.
Retro-silient?: America’s First “Eco-burb,” The Woodlands Turns 50
A master-planned community north of Houston offers lessons on green infrastructure and resilient design, but falls short of its founder’s lofty affordability and walkability goals.
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Analysis: Cybertruck Fatality Rate Far Exceeds That of Ford Pinto
The Tesla Cybertruck was recalled seven times last year.
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