Behind Biden’s EPA Power Grab

The Environmental Protection Agency has had its way with the Clean Air Act and the US Constitution for decades. The Supreme Court’s decision on Thursday in West Virginia vs. EPA may be the beginning of the end of this dark era. It closes the window on radical climate action by federal agencies without a congressional mandate.

In a 6-to-3 decision by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court ruled that the Clean Air Act did not authorize the Clean Power Plan, or CPP, through which the Obama administration sought to force the U.S. electric sector to switch to renewable sources. The plan would limit each state’s total allowable greenhouse gas emissions under the banner of « performance standards » for power plants. This was the strategy the EPA had pursued for nearly a decade as its best bet to impose climate regulations through unilateral executive action.