Gorsuch Could Sway Climate Policy. Prepare to Be Surprised.

The keystone of President Donald Trump’s executive order on the environment, signed Tuesday, is a directive to the Environmental Protection Agency to review and rescind the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, which aimed to shift the country’s electricity generation from coal-fired plants to sources that emit less carbon. When the EPA acts, that will trigger a legal fight about whether the Trump plan complies with the Clean Air Act. And that fight will almost certainly involve the doctrine of Chevron deference, Neil Gorsuch’s special target of judicial dislike.

If Gorsuch is confirmed to the Supreme Court, this could become his first opportunity to comment on Chevron, which provides that the courts defer to agencies when interpreting vague laws. And the case will highlight how that doctrine is, in general, highly useful to the party that controls the presidency.