Big news and AS BIG as the earlier three Biggie Decisions (abortion, Second Amendment, religious liberty). This has HUGE ramifications for unelected, unaccountable, and unassailable faceless bureaucrats that believe that THEY are the lawmakers in our Republic.
BREAKING: Supreme Court Deals Major Blow to EPA Power
The Supreme Court on Thursday handed down a 6-3 decision in West Virginia v. EPA that denied the EPA’s authority to enact sweeping regulations for greenhouse gases that would “decarbonize” American energy under the Clean Air Act.
In a blow to Democrats and climate alarmists, the opinion said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and its unelected bureaucrats could not use portions of the Clean Air Act to make rules limiting how the United States generates electricity and uses energy — such as ending the use of coal-fired power generation. The legal mess decided by SCOTUS Thursday arose from the Obama administration’s attempt to wage war on reliable energy sources that, according to leftists and Democrats, are killing the planet.
In the majority opinion authored by Chief Justice Roberts, the power-grab attempted by Democrats to push their radical energy-killing agenda with unelected bureaucrats gets eviscerated:
Capping carbon dioxide emissions at a level that will force a nationwide transition away from the use of coal to generate electricity may be a sensible “solution to the crisis of the day.” New York v. United States, 505 U. S. 144, 187 (1992). But it is not plausible that Congress gave EPA the authority to adopt on its own such a regulatory scheme in Section 111(d). A decision of such magnitude and consequence rests with Congress itself, or an agency acting pursuant to a clear delegation from that representative body. The judgment of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is reversed, and the cases are remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
We’ll be talking about this for MONTHS as now the Biden Administration may well get stopped dead in its track in implementing, by fiat and Executive Orders, the failed Green New Deal bill of AOC and others.
This is GREAT NEWS! NOW, perhaps, legislators will have to do the actual, hard, detailed, and intellectual work in crafting bills that cover all the bases instead of just throwing it over the Executive Branch wall and have it make actual law (masquerading as rules, guidance, and regulations).
Loyal reader Matt send in an email that included this reporting and it is VERY clear AND important:
The case stems from an Obama-era EPA climate rule and addresses the scope of Congress’s ability to delegate legislative authority to executive agencies.
In August 2015, the EPA adopted the Clean Power Plan that sought to cut carbon emissions by 32% from power plants by 2030.
This ISN’T really about CO2 emissions. It really ISN’T about Government bossing Society around (aka, we are going to transition you to Green Energy and you will both LIKE it and PAY for it whether you like it or not!).
It IS a Separation of Powers decision.
It is, IMHO, as much a decision against the Executive Branch doing what it wants without authorizing legislation to support those efforts as it is, even MORE importantly, telling the Legislative Branch “no more can you be lazy – DO YOUR JOB!!!”.
This is a huge blow against the encroaching Administrative State that the Progressives have wanted for a 120 years.
WHOOPEE!!!!!
UPDATE: Also from Townhall – READ THE BOLDED PART!!!! This is what makes it NOT just about CO2, the EPA, but EVERYTHING that is wrong about how legislation is written – or not (emphasis mine):
Justice Gorsuch, in a concurring opinion, noted that the administrative state has grown out of control in recent decades, and unelected bureaucrats’ use of delegated power can grow out of control if not checked:
I’d say it already is but…
When Congress seems slow to solve problems, it may be only natural that those in the Executive Branch might seek to take matters into their own hands. But the Constitution does not authorize agencies to use pen-and-phone regulations as substitutes for laws passed by the people’s representatives. In our Republic, “[i]t is the peculiar province of the legislature to prescribe general rules for the government of society.” Fletcher v. Peck, 6 Cranch 87, 136 (1810). Because today’s decision helps safeguard that foundational constitutional promise, I am pleased to concur
I look forward to the equivalent of Walmart’s “Roll Back Price” happening to the bureaucratic morass we’re in.
