This decision could have a heavy impact on global warming. The highest jurisdiction of the United States decided, Thursday, June 30, to limit the means of the federal State to fight against greenhouse gases.
His six conservative judges agreed, against the advice of their three progressive colleagues, to limit the prerogatives of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a federal agency independent of the government which sets environmental standards. nationwide as required by law. The majority of judges ruled that the EPA could not enact general rules to regulate emissions from coal-fired power plants, which produce nearly 20% of electricity in the United States.
“It is not plausible that Congress gave the EPA the authority to pass such a measure”, wrote Judge John Roberts in the judgment. However, according to the same judge, “a decision of such magnitude and consequence rests with Congress itself, or with an agency that acts after receiving clear delegation” from the legislature. The consequence of this decision is that “Whenever an agency does something significant and new, the regulation is presumed invalid, unless Congress has specifically authorized it to regulate that area”as summed up by the American public radio NPR (article in English).
Enough to leave the various states of the country the right to enact their own rules in this area and, if they wish, to continue to operate coal-fired power plants, or even to develop them. And this while John Roberts also recognizes that “putting a limit on carbon dioxide emissions at a level that would require a nationwide move away from coal to generate electricity could be a relevant solution to today’s crisis.”
“Today, the Court stripped the Environmental Protection Agency of the authority Congress gave it to respond to the ‘the most pressing problem of our time’“, denounces in a separate argument the magistrate Elena Kagan on behalf of progressives, recalling that the six hottest years have been recorded during the last decade. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres denounced “a setback in our fight against climate change, when we are already very behind in achieving the objectives of the Paris agreement”.
The White House denounced “a devastating new decision by the Court that aims to set our country back”, according to his spokesperson. US President Joe Biden “will not hesitate to use its powers under the law to protect public health and address the climate change crisis”, added the official in a short statement sent to the press. The American president had reinstated environmental provisions cut by his predecessor Donald Trump, but had seen some of his most ambitious ecological measures blocked by Congress.
This controversial decision constitutes a new conservative turn of the screw on the part of the Supreme Court. On Friday, the highest American court had buried a judgment which, for nearly half a century, guaranteed the right of American women to have an abortion. In the process, several American states had announced that they were taking measures to prohibit voluntary terminations of pregnancy on their territory. This decision had caused a worldwide emotion among defenders of women’s rights.