The US Supreme Court ruled to temporarily halt new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations after a lawsuit led by Ohio objected to them.
The EPA’s regulations were issued to reduce power plant and industrial facility pollution. Relying on the Clean Air Act’s good neighbor provision, the EPA intended to foist new, heftier emissions-control regulations on states.
However, the Supreme Court found that, given the significant impact such regulations could have, they ought to be halted until their legality is subsequently litigated.
Conservatives are celebrating the ruling as relieving businesses already struggling to operate in an unstable economy from added pressure.
US Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) attacked the EPA and commended the Supreme Court’s decision upon its publication.
“Glad to see the Supreme Court pause Biden’s insane Green New Deal-style EPA rule, which is a blatant attack on American energy producers,” said Scott. “Bidenomics is already making the American dream unaffordable for families & businesses - they can’t take another hit.”
The Supreme Court’s ruling is a roadblock in President Joe Biden’s administration’s attempts to harness federal agencies as vehicles for implementing progressive environmental regulations.
Besides the EPA, which, as its name suggests, is expected to handle environmental regulations, President Biden has instituted a government-wide environmental policy program.
From the Department of Defense to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Biden administration has directed all agencies to prioritize environmental regulations.
However, Biden’s initiatives have been met with legal objections claiming the agencies lack the authority to undertake such broad regulatory efforts.
In one instance, a group of Texan businesses objected to new SEC environmental regulations requiring public companies to record and disclose some of their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Republican lawmakers, led by Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and joined by Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Representative Cory Mills (R-FL), have supported the lawsuit.
