EPA Can Regulate 83 Percent of Greenhouse Gases Instead of 86 Percent, Says U.S. Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court today issued a decision in the case of
Utility
Air Regulatory Group v. Environmental Protection Agency in
which it more or less affirmed the EPA’s power to regulate the
emissions of carbon dioxide so long as they are emitted with other
pollutants that the agency has the authority regulate under the
Clean Air Act. The EPA claimed that since it had the authority to
regulate any facility that emitted more 100 tons of other
pollutants per year, it could similarly regulate any facility that
emitted more than 100 tons of carbon dioxide annually. More than 6
million such facilities including schools, big apartment buildings,
hospitals, dairy farms, and so forth emit that much carbon dioxide.
The agency concluded that regulating that many facilities would be
“absurd” so it decided to “tailor”
its regulations so that they applied only to facilities that
emitted greenhouse gases equivalent to more than 75,000 tons of
carbon dioxide annually.

The Supreme Court ruled today that the EPA can regulate the
emissions of greenhouse gases from facilities that emit 100 tons of
the other pollutants that it already has Clean Air Act authority to
regulate. Since, for example, big power plants, refineries, and
cement factories emit significant amounts of pollutants like
nitrogen oxides, particulates, ozone and so forth, the agency will
have the power to limit to their greenhouse gas emissions as
well.

As the Associated Press
reported:

‘‘EPA is getting almost everything it wanted in this case,’’
[Justice Antonin] Scalia said. He said the agency wanted to
regulate 86 percent of all greenhouse gases emitted from plants
nationwide, and it will it be able to regulate 83 percent of the
emissions under the ruling.

Will the ruling have any effect on the Obama administration’s
proposals to force electric power generating plants to cut their
greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent? Not really. From AP:

The EPA and many environmental advocates said the ruling would
not affect the agency’s proposals for first-time national standards
for new and existing power plants. The most recent proposal aims at
a 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from existing
power plants by 2030, but won’t take effect for at least another
two years…

…David Doniger, director of the climate and clean air program
at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the ruling was a
green light for the administration’s proposal to cut greenhouse gas
emissions from existing power plants. ‘‘There’s no adverse effect
on EPA’s power plant proposal. In fact, it looks like the court is
reaffirming EPA’s authority to set those standards,’’ Doniger
said.

Given Republican obstructionism with regard to climate change
policy, this is the sort of “second best” piecemeal regulation that
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman feels forced to

endorse today.