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(8,254 posts) Sun Jun 5, 2022, 02:02 PM Jun 2022

The Supreme Court Is Pursuing a Very Dangerous Strategy for the Environment

If you continue to harbor doubts that the Supreme Court’s conservatives are advancing an ideological agenda, the next few weeks will probably lay those to rest.

Before breaking for the summer at the end of this month, the court is likely not only to strike down or severely curtail the constitutional right to an abortion and expand gun rights but also undermine important environmental protections.

From my perspective as an environmental lawyer and a former clerk for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, a case that looms large is West Virginia v. E.P.A., which should be decided within weeks. The justices will determine how much authority the Environmental Protection Agency has to address the climate crisis by regulating emissions of climate-warming carbon dioxide from power plants.

Even more concerning, West Virginia v. E.P.A. may be only the beginning. In its next term, the Supreme Court will likely take up another important environmental case: Sackett v. E.P.A., which concerns the geographic reach of the Clean Water Act.

Once again, the court agreed to take up a case it would normally have declined: Appeals courts have consistently agreed on the scope of the statute relevant to the Sackett case, and the E.P.A. and the Army Corps of Engineers will likely soon finalize a new proposed rule to provide further clarity on how the law should work. So again, the court appears to be reaching out aggressively to hear a case that could advance a deregulatory policy agenda: restricting the scope of one of the country’s most important environmental laws, administered by an agency mandated to protect the public health and environment.

The Clean Water Act prevents polluters from dumping waste into the nation’s waters without a permit. Conservative groups and extractive industries want the court to hold that the law does not protect certain wetlands, which would benefit polluting industries to the detriment of downstream waters and people.