On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court halted implementation of President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) regulations. The 5–4 decision favored a group of 27 states and agencies that recently petitioned for a stay of the administration’s sweeping plan to cut carbon dioxide emissions.
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“America’s future is a little brighter today because the Supreme Court has dealt a major blow to President Obama’s Clean Power Plan (CPP).
“The supposed goal of the CPP was to reduce carbon dioxide emissions significantly below 2005 levels by shuttering the nation’s coal-fired power generation fleet and focusing on natural gas and renewable energy sources.
“While replacing coal with renewable energy may invoke warm and fuzzy feelings, it would have had serious negative consequences for working families – who would wonder why the electricity bill keeps going up every month.
“The United States produces only 2 percent of its total energy from wind and solar combined. We actually generate more energy from burning wood than wind and solar. The fact of the matter is, we are going to be dependent upon fossil fuels for a long time because they are the most affordable, abundant sources of energy we have. The Supreme Court delivered a decisive victory to middle-income Americans.”
Isaac Orr
Research Fellow, Energy and Environment Policy
The Heartland Institute
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“This is indeed good news but climate realists must not let their guard down. Obama will load EPA with executive orders to continue to damage our economy in any way possible to achieve his goal of placing America on a level playing field with the world’s weakest economies. The Supreme Court ruling will infuriate a man who believes he is above the Court, the Constitution, and Congress.”
Jay Lehr
Science Director
The Heartland Institute
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“This is great news. The fact that the Supreme Court stayed the rule, a highly unusual action for the Court to take, showed the justices recognized how far-reaching the rule was, and that they did not want a repeat of the Mercury and Air Toxics Rule fiasco.
“For the Court to take this action, a majority of the justices must feel the states challenging the rule have a significant likelihood of ultimately prevailing on the merits. This indicates the CPP goes beyond EPA’s power under the Clean Air Act.
“Though the case will go on, because it will take at least a year or longer to get through all the hearings and appeals, the fate of this rule will ultimately land not in the Supreme Court but in the hands of the next president. He or she will have to decide whether to defend the rule in court or pull it before it ultimately reaches the Supreme Court for scrapping or a rewrite.
“None of the Republican candidates has defended the rule, so if a Republican wins, the rule will likely be pulled. If a Democrat wins, the case may go forward, but based on the current action, the Supreme Court will probably overturn the rule. In either case, Obama’s climate legacy is in tatters, and his commitments in Paris COP-21 will come to nothing.”
H. Sterling Burnett
Research Fellow, Environment & Energy Policy
The Heartland Institute
Managing Editor, Environment & Climate News
[email protected]
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“In a cycle of ‘huge’ headlines, the Supreme Court’s 5–4 decision to halt implementation of the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan is huge.
“Never before has the highest court in the land gotten involved in a case currently being litigated by a lower court. Never before has the Supreme Court blocked EPA. The Clean Power Plan is now likely on hold forever as Tuesday’s decision halts it until the case is litigated by an appeals court and reaches the Supreme Court – which puts it into the next president’s purview.
“The stay was granted based on the likelihood that the parties who sued will win the case. In the unlikely event the rule ultimately survives the courts, it will be a different EPA that implements it.”
Marita Noon
Executive Director
Citizens Alliance for Responsible Energy
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“With billions of dollars on the line for the lignite and coal industry, the Supreme Court has put a stay on EPA’s Clean Power Plan. This gives the industry and the states some much-needed breathing room. This is a strong ‘states rights’ win for the 27 attorneys general from across the country standing for the right of each state to regulate the industries within its borders.
“This will allow for the lights and heat to stay on for thousands of families as reliable electricity is delivered to all. And now we can have a full debate about the true costs and benefits of EPA’s scheme.”
Bette Grande
Research Fellow, Energy Policy
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/377-4000
Ms. Grande represented the 41st District in the North Dakota Legislature from 1996 to 2014.
“A group of 27 states attorneys general who sued the Environmental Protection Agency over the Clean Power Plan should be commended for their brave stand for protecting jobs and cheap energy. The attorneys general were correct to engage in nullification of EPA’s harmful policies that would increase energy rates and kill good jobs. Middle- and lower-income Americans would have been hurt the most if the Court did not issue this stay.
“States will continue to look for ways to nullify the Obama EPA if more regulations are pushed through executive action rather than the legislative process.”
Kyle Maichle
Project Manager, Constitutional Reform
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/377-4000
The Heartland Institute is a 32-year-old national nonprofit organization headquartered in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Its mission is to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems. For more information, visit our Web site or call 312/377-4000.
Jay Lehr was an internationally renowned speaker, scientist, Senior Policy Advisor with the International Climate Science Coalition and Senior Science Analyst at CFACT.
H. Sterling Burnett, Ph.D., is the Director of the Arthur B. Robinson Center on Climate and Environmental Policy and the managing editor of Environment & Climate News.
Marita Noon is the executive director for Energy Makes America Great Inc. and the companion educational organization, the Citizens’ Alliance for Responsible Energy(CARE).
Bette Grande is a State Government Relations Manager at The Heartland Institute. Prior to coming to Heartland, she served as a North Dakota state representative from 1996-2014, representing the 41st district.
