Did Congress Really Rebuff the Supreme Court on Climate Rule?
Democrats are toasting a victory against the conservative justices’ assault on environmental law. But it might be a short celebration.
Good news, bad news.
Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg
Liberals are understandably delighted that Congress has managed to repudiate the outcome of at least one major case the Supreme Court decided in June. Although it seems certain that no federal legislation will be passed to try to reinstate Roe v. Wade and abortion rights, the Democratic congressional majority has made a clear statement on environmental law in the case of West Virginia v. EPA.
In the court’s 6-3 decision, the conservative majority blocked climate regulation issued by the Environmental Protection Agency on the theory that Congress hadn’t made it crystal clear in the 1970 Clean Air Act that the agency had authority to make the national power system more climate-friendly. Now, as part of the blockbuster Inflation Reduction Act passed earlier this month, Congress has stipulated that the Clean Air Act does in fact extend to greenhouse gases.