Region: National
What the Supreme Court Left Standing
No, the Court didn’t eliminate EPA’s ability to fight climate change.
The Supreme Court’s ruling in the West Virginia case left many people with the impression that it eliminated the government’s power to regulate carbon emissions. There are quite a number of areas of climate law that the Supreme Court has left untouched. Here’s the EPA authority the Court hasn’t touched: EPA’s jurisdiction over greenhouse gases. …
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CONTINUE READINGDeclaring a Climate Change Emergency: A Citizen’s Guide
Would it be legal to declare a national emergency for climate change? Would it be useful? Here’s what you need to know.
Based on press reports, it now seems likely that Biden will soon declare climate change to be a national emergency. Would this be legal? Would it unlock important powers that could be used to fight climate change? My answers are: It would probably be legal, and it would unlock some significant powers. But an emergency …
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CONTINUE READINGStanford’s Sustainability School: A Good Model?
There are pros and cons, but it makes sense to bring the university org. chart into the 21st century.
In my last post, I wrote about universities like Stanford that are creating new programs in sustainability. Stanford’s move may inspire others to follow. There are pros and cons, but it seems inevitable that the organization of universities will ultimately take account of one of the biggest problems facing humanity. Administrative reorganizations, whether in government, …
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CONTINUE READINGStanford and Beyond
Organizing Universities Around Sustainability
In May, Stanford grabbed headlines by announcing a billion dollar gift to launch a new School of Sustainability. There hasn’t been much written about the details of Stanford’s effort, or about what other schools are doing along similar lines. There’s little in the way of systematic information, but there does seem to be a lot …
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CONTINUE READINGClimate Change and the Major Question Doctrine
Just because a regulation involves climate change, that doesn’t make it a major question.
Red State AGs are preparing to go to town with the West Virginia case. They seem to think that everything involving climate change automatically becomes a major question. That’s simply wrong. The doctrine is more nuanced. Recall that the Supreme Court struck down OSHA’s vaccine mandate, essentially on major questions grounds, but the majority found …
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CONTINUE READINGEmerging Answers to Major Questions
We’re beginning to get a clearer understanding of the major questions doctrine.
In November, I wrote a post posing “some major questions about the major questions doctrine.” In West Virginia v. EPA, Chief Justice Roberts starts supplying some answers to those questions. In particular, he seems to be using a narrower four-factor approach to decide what constitutes a “major question.” As we all know, the West Virginia case …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Battle for the Senate: A Challenging Year for Democrats
Democrats may hold onto the Senate, but it’s going to be a tough fight.
We’re now four months out from election day. This is not looking like a good electoral cycle for the Democrats, given inflation, the continuing effects of COVID, the economic impact of the war in Ukraine, and other woes. Democrats do have a fair chance of holding control of the Senate however, depending on how …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Revolution, the Enlightenment and the Climate Crisis
The Founding Era’s belief in facts and science has too often been replaced with political identity as a test of truth.
The Declaration of Independence is a document deeply rooted in the Enlightenment. The Declaration begins with a note of cosmopolitanism, referring to “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind.” There is then the famous passage declaring “these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator …
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CONTINUE READINGEPA’s Best Option: Co-Firing
Yesterday’s decision leaves open a powerful regulatory tool.
What can EPA do to cut carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants after yesterday’s decision in West Virginia v. EPA? The decision clearly ruled out any direct mandate to shift generation from coal generators to cleaner power generators. But the Supreme Court didn’t endorse Trump’s ultra-limited interpretation of the law either. This leaves EPA with …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Supreme Court Curbs Climate Action
The ruling in West Virginia v. EPA was about as good as we could expect given the makeup of the Court.
Today, the Supreme Court decided its most important environmental case since 2007. We didn’t dodge the bullet. It’s more than a flesh wound but it didn’t hit any vital organs . Chief Justice Roberts’s majority opinion leaves EPA other options to reduce carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. It also gives a fairly narrow reading …
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