Supreme Court ruling preserves Clean Power Plan and EPA authority

Environment America

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court upheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to limit carbon pollution from power plants but limited the EPA’s authority to issue permits for a narrow set of industrial facilities. 

Today’s ruling does not affect the EPA’s Clean Power Plan proposed on June 2.

Environment America Federal Global Warming Program Director Julian Boggs issued the following statement in response to today’s ruling:

“For 40 years, the Clean Air Act has worked to effectively reduce dangerous pollution, cleaning up soot, smog and other pollution from the air we breathe. The Supreme Court has ruled twice before that the EPA has the authority to limit carbon pollution from power plants, and they reaffirmed that authority today.

“The time for excuses is over. With extreme drought and wildfires threatening the west, flooding in the Midwest and Northeast, and sea level rise menacing our coasts, we’ve got to act now. The Clean Air Act gives EPA the authority to act, and the Supreme Court backs up that decision.

“Unfortunately, polluters’ allies in Congress have gone so far as to threaten government shutdown to stop the EPA’s ability to fight global warming and limit pollution from the single largest source of carbon pollution. It’s up to leaders in the Senate to do their part and reject attacks on the Clean Air Act. Our children’s future depends on it.”