The Supreme Court recently delivered yet another setback to the Biden administration's climate efforts. The court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency does not have the authority to regulate the carbon emissions of power plants. Ashlee Piper, sustainability expert, joined Cheddar News to break it all down.

Cheddar's News Wrap

SCOTUS Limits EPA's Authority to Fight Climate Change

Welcome back to Chester's news wrap everyone. The Supreme Court recently delivered yet another setback to the biden administration's climate efforts. The court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency does not have the authority to regulate carbon emissions of power plants. Instead, Congress will set the standards on greenhouse gas emissions for power plants. Joining me now to break it all down is Ashley piper sustainability expert Ashley welcome to the show. What is your reaction to the ruling? What implications does this decision have for the fight against climate change? Because now it seems the E. P. A. Really has no power? Well, it's certainly a setback I think something that's important to remember is that this is not the worst case scenario that could have happened. I'm not trying to dress it up and say it won't present significant challenges for the E. P. A. To essentially do their jobs, but it's not as bad as it potentially could have been. What the ruling essentially says is that the E. P. A. Cannot limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants by using something called generation shifting. Which is essentially saying, okay, well you need to, instead of burning coal, be generating more energy from wind or more sustainable sources. So this ruling doesn't necessarily hamper the E. P. A. S ability to regulate new power plants to regulate emissions in other ways. So there's still loopholes here. But it creates a significant amount of complication and churn for the E. P. A. Because Skoda's invoked something called the major questions doctrine which essentially says if a federal agency does not have explicit authorization from Congress to do something and make a decision in a case that is like politically and economically significant. Which of course climate changes, they have to go back to Congress and get that clarification, why are these particular kinds of power plants important, What percentage of domestic greenhouse gasses do they contribute to? We have to look at it broken down by individual greenhouse gasses. There are many different types, but we know that these power plants contribute to about 26% of all of the greenhouse gasses in the country, um or generate those. So it's the number one producer of these kinds of harmful emissions in the country. Which is why actually generation shifting which the E. P. A. Can no longer really do as a form of regulation was seen as one of the best in class standards for really capping these emissions. What does this mean for those companies that aim to shift power generation over away from coal to cleaner gas and renewable energy sources? So the companies still have carte blanche to be able to do that, as do the states. Um This really just means that the E. P. A. Is going to be kind of caught up in a significant amount of churn and challenges when it comes to getting congressional authority or clarification on, you know what their explicit authorization is or are in these cases. Uh So states and companies can still do really what they want to do if they want to be more aggressive with their climate targets and their emissions mitigation they can do that this new ruling impact the ability of the U. S. To meet its long term climate goals that they've set. Well, it certainly does set us back. I mean, the biden administration has been very clear that they want to be a big player in the global fight against climate change. And and this this makes it more difficult because what you're essentially going to see is one uh the E. P. A. Is going to be caught up in Congress with trying to get these kinds of clarified authorizations as we know, Congress is not an emergency actor. You know, even with a great amount of political and public will it takes a very long time to get things moved through that pipeline. And even when they are moved through there kind of a Frankenstein of what they used to be, They're not necessarily as meaningful or as impactful as they should be. So the E. P. A. Is gonna you know, be challenged with that. It's kind of a professional time waster uh ruling essentially. Uh So the impacts that you're going to see are are a lot of times States are going to kind of go their own way um with regulating uh this does not this ruling does not prevent the states from doing what they've always been doing and as we know states are a reflection and congress is a reflection of states. So We know that there are very fragmented views on climate change and what kind of mitigation is necessary there. So you're going to see certain states like Oregon and Connecticut taking really aggressive action to move towards more of a net zero by 2035 or 2050. And then you're gonna see other states like Virginia that are just completely pulling out of these clean energy consortiums because they're potentially more interested in the economic viability of these fossil fuel industries. So what can be done to combat the effects of this ruling on the fight against climate change Ashley by the E. P. A. But also us the individual. Well, the E. P. A. Is working on essentially finalizing pieces of the Clean Air, the Clean Air Act. And once those are finalized, that will really help to give further clarification on the E. P. S. Authorization and powers uh the biden administration also really needs to work with the Senate to pass a comprehensive budget reconciliation package which includes a lot of these uh these strategies and solutions around climate change. Um and then as individuals, there are things that we can do. We can nudge our politicians and policymakers to be in favor of and support a lot of this legislation and to kind of put some speed on it. And a lot of us also have the liberty to choose which kind of power providers we want to go with. And many of these public power uh companies offer options for consumers and individuals to shift to more renewable and green and clean energy as the source of how they power their homes and their businesses. Ashley piper, a sustainability expert. We really appreciate your time. Ashley, thank you.