Even the Supreme Court justices appointed by Bush I and Bush II (Thomas, Roberts, and Alito) couldn’t stop the Court from repudiating the current Administration’s head-in-the–sand approach for dealing with climate change. Today’s 5-4 decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, called the administration’s approach “arbitrary, capricious … or otherwise not in accordance with law” and found that the EPA does in fact have the authority to regulate greenhouse-causing gases under the Clean Air Act.
The majority opinion contends that the “EPA has offered no reasoned explanation for its refusal to decide whether greenhouse gases cause or contribute to climate change.” While the decision does not necessarily compel the EPA to regulate carbon emissions (and don’t hold your breath), the ruling is significant since it frees the hand of the next President to regulate carbon and methane emissions without Congress passing additional legislation.
What the decision also does is clear the way for states to reduce greenhouse emissions with initiatives of their own. In the past, states like California that have asked the EPA for special permission to apply more stringent carbon emission limits on automobiles have been stymied by the Administration’s claim that the Clean Air Act does not provide the authority to do so.
—Koshlan Mayer-Blackwell
