The authority of President Joe Biden's administration to combat climate change has been severely limited as a result of the US Supreme Court's decision on Thursday, Jun. 30, that the government's primary environmental agency cannot set substantial restrictions on greenhouse gases.
By a vote of 6-3, the Supreme Court determined that the Environmental Protection Agency lacked the authority to impose broad restrictions on coal-fired power plant emissions, which account for approximately 20% of all electricity used in the country.
It was a big triumph for the coal mining and coal power industries, which were subject to strict regulations in the same year as a result of the Obama administration's efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
The court's majority included three conservative justices appointed by former President Donald Trump, who had aimed to dismantle the EPA, marking a victory for conservatives opposed to government regulation of the industry.
Biden called it "another devastating decision that aims to take our country backwards." He also added, "We cannot and will not ignore the danger to public health and existential threat the climate crisis poses."
Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said it was "a setback in our fight against climate change".
The majority of the judges acknowledged that limiting carbon dioxide emissions in order to transition away from coal power "may be a realistic answer" to global warming. However, they claimed that the case raised a "serious concern" about US governance with far-reaching implications and that the EPA would need to specifically receive these powers from the legislature.
Conservatives applauded the decision as a strike against overregulation.
"The Court has undone illegal regulations issued by the EPA without any clear congressional authorization and confirmed that only the people's representatives in Congress - not unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats - may write our nation's laws," Mitch McConnell, the head of the Senate's Republican party and a representative from Kentucky, a state with a sizable coal mining sector, wrote.
President of the coal industry lobby America's Power, Michelle Bloodworth, applauded the decision.
"We are pleased the court agreed with us that EPA does not have unlimited authority to do anything it wants to do," she said in a statement.
"Coal-fired power plants provide affordable and reliable electricity," she added.
But Nancy Pelosi, the head of the Democratic Party in the House, branded it a "radical" decision made by "pro-pollution justices."
"By restricting the EPA's authority, the Republican supermajority on the court has bowed to the dirty energy special interests who seek to poison the air our children breathe and the water they drink with impunity," she said.
