The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

The Supreme Court examines an important case to limit greenhouse gas emissions

2022-02-28T14:00:40.460Z


Power-producing states and coal companies are urging the highest court to rule that the EPA has no authority to divert energy production from coal-fired power plants.


By Pete Williams—

NBC News

The Supreme Court will consider on Monday the power of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, in English) to limit greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants, one of the most important cases of an already loaded legislature. important.

At stake is the extent of the government's authority over "our country's largest industrial source of climate pollution and one of the world's largest sources of carbon dioxide pollution," said Vickie Patton, general counsel of the Fund. Environmental Defense.

Power-producing states, led by West Virginia, and coal companies are urging the court to rule that the EPA does not have broad authority to shift the nation's energy output from coal-fired power plants to cleaner sources, such as solar and wind energy.

That kind of public policy can only be set by Congress, not by a federal agency, they argue.

[The UN warns in a new report that urgent action against climate change is necessary "to guarantee a decent future"]

The case comes before the court in an unusual situation, because the states and coal companies are not challenging any specific rule currently in place.

Instead,

they challenge a federal appeals court ruling that the EPA can make the kind of rules the plaintiffs object to.

If those rules go back into effect, the challengers say, the EPA could "appoint itself as the nation's central energy planning authority, reshaping power grids and taking control of electricity production across the country."

Planet Earth: Mexico among the top ten gas burners in the world

Feb. 27, 202201:34

The legal fight began seven years ago, when the EPA, under the administration of former President Barack Obama, issued a plan to reduce carbon dioxide pollution from power plants by allowing their operators to earn credits for generating more energy from lower-emitting sources. , such as natural gas or solar or wind energy.

The coalition of states and coal companies sued, arguing that the Clean Air Act only authorized the government to restrict pollution from certain power plants, not to require power companies to change their generation methods.

After the Supreme Court blocked enforcement of that rule, the EPA abandoned it and instead, under the administration of former President Donald Trump, proposed rules that would regulate only emissions from power plants.

The relaxation of the greenhouse gas restriction was then challenged by a different lineup of states and a coalition of environmental groups.

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, on the last day of the Trump administration in office, struck down his administration's revised rule.

As a result, no EPA restrictions currently apply to carbon pollution from existing power plants.

But the appeals court ruling left the door open for the administration of current President Joe Biden to resurrect the EPA's previous approach, which involves a shift to cleaner sources.

Planet Earth: Monarch Butterflies Invade Michoacán

April 5, 201903:26

That possibility is what the coal companies and the red states ask the Supreme Court to prevent.  

“Important policy decisions affecting the national economy should not be made by unelected agency officials,” says a North American Coal Corp legal brief. The Supreme Court should ensure that “such momentous decisions are made by Congress.” , He said.

Biden's Justice Department said the states and coal companies have no legal authority to uphold their lawsuit because there are no pollution standards in place.

He said the EPA is in the process of developing a new standard on carbon dioxide emissions.

"As part of that upcoming regulation, EPA will reexamine the scope of its authority," the department said.

But the government also said the appeals court was correct in ruling that EPA's authority is not limited to looking at pollution from specific plants, and thus allows more flexibility in considering the power generation system as a whole.

Several large utilities, including Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and Consolidated Edison, side with the Justice Department. 

Planet Earth: These Florida manatees had no choice but to change their diet

Feb. 20, 202201:12

“Due to the uniquely interconnected nature of the power grid,” they told the court, the best system for reducing emissions includes consideration of the power generation system as a whole and is not limited to measures that apply to each power plant. individual operating in isolation.

The case has attracted the interest of dozens of companies and interest groups.

Among the companies that support the Biden administration are Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Tesla.

In a friend of the court brief, they said that “both corporate and regulatory action are necessary to prevent the worst impacts of climate change.”

The Supreme Court will decide the case in early July.

Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2022-02-28

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z
News/Politics 2024-03-28T05:25:00.011Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.