Supreme Court Ruling Against EPA Jeopardizes Health of Millions

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that halts the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “good neighbor” plan, which requires Western and Midwestern states to curb emissions from factories and power plants that drift into downwind states. Five justices put the program on hold while litigation continues. Justice Amy Coney Barrett led four justices in dissent, writing, “[t]he Court today enjoins the enforcement of a major Environmental Protection Agency rule based on an underdeveloped theory that is unlikely to succeed on the merits.” In response, Trevor Higgins, senior vice president of the Energy and Environment department at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:

Yet again, the Supreme Court has sided with polluting industries and against clean air by halting a program that would save thousands of lives and improve the health of millions of Americans. This ruling goes against the clear statutory authority of the EPA to regulate interstate air pollution. Even more troubling, the court took the highly unusual step of hearing this case without waiting for the lower court to issue a decision. The result is that downwind states will continue to suffer the consequences of fossil fuel pollution from upwind states. This Supreme Court has again demonstrated that it will rewrite the Clean Air Act whenever it suits the interests of the right-wing majority.