There are lots of happy reports on the Supreme Court’s ruling throwing out EPA’s so-called Clean Power Plan. Some go so far as to suggest that EPA is barred from regulating power plant CO2 emissions. It is not quite that simple and the result is rather amusing. EPA is still required to regulate CO2 under the terms of the Clean Air Act, but that Act provides no way to do that regulation. The Clean Power Plan attempted to expand an obscure minor clause in the Act to do the job but SCOTUS … [Read more...]
Will SCOTUS Rein in the EPA?
Back in 1970, Congress passed the Clean Air Act (CAA), and for the next two decades or more actions taken under it significantly improved the quality of America’s air. In 1990 it passed significant amendments to it, and some of these also had salutary effects. But, combined with an increasing tendency to allow administrative agencies, especially the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to impose regulations without a clear statutory basis, and a tendency of courts to defer to agencies’ … [Read more...]
Brett Kavanaugh—A Strong Choice for the Supreme Court
Tuesday night President Donald Trump announced that Brett Kavanaugh was his choice for his second appointment to the Supreme Court of the United States of America. This choice was met with wailing and gnashing of teeth by left-leaning pundits and activists claiming this would be the end of a woman's "choice" to kill her pre-born baby. It is worth noting this racket would be made by the choice of anyone on President Trump's list. It was, after all, one of his campaign promises to appoint … [Read more...]
