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The Supreme Court has heard arguments in the most significant environmental case in a decade, adding to the list of major cases that this court is weighing in on this year.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking to limit emissions from power plants under the landmark Clean Air Act. West Virginia, home to major coal mining industries, wants the EPA to be limited in how it regulates fossil fuel companies and global-warming gasses from the energy sector.
However, the conservative-majority court sounded skeptical of the EPA’s reach, and whether the EPA had the authority to issue broad regulations. If the Supreme Court restricts how the EPA can enact the Clean Air Act, it will limit the agency’s ability to address climate change.
It still remains unclear how the justices will rule in the case. However, several justices signaled they may be willing to restrict the government’s ability to address global warming overall.
The case has the potential to have profound and lasting implications for people affected by the climate crisis.
This could throw a major wrench into the plans of President Joe Biden, whose administration wants the Supreme Court to throw the case out as baseless because it does not actually pertain to any existing regulation.
The case is massively concerning to environmental groups and climate experts. The skepticism by the Supreme Court has stoked fears that it could hinder efforts to set strict limits on carbon pollution in the United States.
The U.S. is the second-largest culprit for carbon dioxide emissions in the world, only falling behind China as the biggest world polluter.
Legal experts focusing on the environment and climate change said it is grotesque that big coal is arguing to tie the hands of the EPA. It comes as the United Nations released a dire Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report this week.
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