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Opinion
Timothy L. O'Brien

Supreme Court Wages War on Public Sector Expertise

Conservative justices’ assault on agencies like the EPA will be bad for the economy, public health and the well-being of every American.

The Supreme Court thinks it knows best about regulating power plants.

The Supreme Court thinks it knows best about regulating power plants.

Photographer: George Frey/Bloomberg

How valuable is expertise? What’s the most efficient and effective way to tackle epic and urgent national challenges such as climate change or a pandemic? Are expertise and problem-solving related?

The Supreme Court’s conservative wing has responded to those questions in recent rulings. And its answers are so doctrinaire and divorced from reality that they will be bad for the economy, public health and, ultimately, the well-being of every American.