SCOTUS Strikes Down EPA Regulations and “Clean Air Act”

Leftists lose to justice once again in another 6-3 ruling from the Supreme Court, this time targeting the EPA’s ability to enact sweeping regulations.

Chief Justice John Roberts (left) and Barack Obama (right)

The Thursday decision in West Virginia v. EPA denied the EPA’s authority to enact regulations for greenhouse gas emissions meant to “decarbonize” America under the Clean Air Act due to being too sweeping.

In the majority opinion, authored by Chief Justice Roberts, he shuns the usage of the EPA for being used as a non-legislative political beat-stick to enact a climate agenda.

Capping carbon dioxide emissions at a level that will force a nationwide transition away from the use of coal to generate electricity may be a sensible “solution to the crisis of the day.” New York v. United States, 505 U. S. 144, 187 (1992). But it is not plausible that Congress gave EPA the authority to adopt on its own such a regulatory scheme in Section 111(d). A decision of such magnitude and consequence rests with Congress itself, or an agency acting pursuant to a clear delegation from that representative body. The judgment of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is reversed, and the cases are remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Democrats and leftist climate alarmists have been using the EPA as a way to circumvent the legislative process and the will of the people for decades, however, this became amplified under Obama.

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Justice Gorsuch’s concurring opinion reads:

When Congress seems slow to solve problems, it may be only natural that those in the Executive Branch might seek to take matters into their own hands. But the Constitution does not authorize agencies to use pen-and-phone regulations as substitutes for laws passed by the people’s representatives. In our Republic, “[i]t is the peculiar province of the legislature to prescribe general rules for the government of society.” Fletcher v. Peck, 6 Cranch 87, 136 (1810). Because today’s decision helps safeguard that foundational constitutional promise, I am pleased to concur

Obama’s EPA instigated this type of sweeping and unconstitutional use of the EPA with the “Clean Power Plan.” However, the plan was never implemented and was repealed by President Trump’s EPA. The Biden Administration is currently working towards their own version of the Obama-era plan, although with this SCOTUS decision that may change.

Efforts to push green energy may in some cases be noble, however, many times they damage the American economy and energy sector unnecessarily. The energy-killing agenda of Democrats has directly led to today’s energy crisis and, if allowed to continue, could only make things worse.

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