Obama on climate ruling: ‘don’t despair’

In light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to issue a stay on the EPA’s Clean Power Plan (CPP), the Energy and Environment Cabinet is deferring its plans to conduct listening sessions on the rulemaking and gather input on compliance options.

This Supreme Court decision means that the pause button has been pushed on the EPA rule to require power plants to cut emissions, Tong said.

Schultz said the USA would continue to take aggressive steps to continue to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, citing other regulations it has put in place to reduce emissions from automobiles, airplanes and the oil and gas sector.

“In granting the stay on the EPA’s so-called Clean Power Plan, the court said there is a likelihood that the 27 states now suing the EPA will prevail in court and that allowing EPA to proceed without a stay would do irreparable harm to the states”, said Cadman.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided 5-4 on Tuesday to block the Environmental Protection Agency’s carbon emissions crackdown on coal plants until a legal challenge is resolved.

Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), the leader of a 60-member House climate caucus, said he hoped the ruling would also spur more dialogue between moderate GOP members who favor climate action and Democrats to find a path forward. That decision, in turn, will nearly certainly wind up back before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ten years ago, the court ruled in a landmark case that the EPA has the authority to regulate carbon dioxide under the 46-year-old Clean Air Act.

“The Supreme Court did something unusual this week”, Obama said, noting that it was rare for the court to intervene while the case was still waiting to be heard at the circuit court level.

That is, the costs associated with complying with the government’s plan. I encourage the EPA to keep working with states that choose to continue to develop their Clean Power Plans and prepare the tools those states will need. Tuesday’s decision by the country’s top court has sparked concerns, not only in the US, but also across Europe, India and China, that the Barack Obama-led administration’s ambitious emission reduction pledge under December’s Paris agreement may not be met.

The procedural ruling specifically addresses a lower-court decision to allow the plan to stay in place while the legal challenge is being adjudicated.