Supreme Court paves way, for now, for EPA rule limiting power plant emissions

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court temporarily cleared the way Wednesday for the Environmental Protection Agency to limit carbon emissions by power plants.

The decision was a victory for the Biden administration, which has been stymied in the courts over its efforts to protect the environment. In June, the Supreme Court temporarily paused an EPA plan to curb air pollution that drifts across state lines. It has also constrained the agency’s ability to limit water pollution and factors that lead to climate change.

The ruling did not include the court’s reasoning, which is typical in emergency applications, and the order was provisional while a challenge moved forward in the courts.

In a brief statement, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch, said that while he agreed with the court’s decision to allow the emissions rule to go into effect, he believed that some of the Republican-led challenges “have shown a strong likelihood of success on the merits.”

Still, Kavanaugh said that a lower court would have sufficient time to review the case because the power plants would not have to start work to comply with the rule until June 2025.

Since late July, the Supreme Court has fielded a series of challenges to a major regulation enacted by the EPA, including from a group of states led by conservatives, along with power plant companies and other industry players.

The regulation, enacted in April, seeks to eliminate pollution from coal, which emits more carbon dioxide than any other fossil fuel.

Under the rule, coal- and gas-fired power plants slated to operate long-term would have to capture up to 90% of their emissions by 2032. The requirements are less strict for power plants scheduled to close in the coming years.

The more than two dozen states challenging the regulation argue that the federal government has failed to prove that the techniques used to control emissions would curtail them to the degree the government is seeking.

After the Biden administration announced the rule in April, several Republican-led states, including West Virginia, Indiana, Alabama and Alaska, challenged it the same day.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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