We could not think of a worse time to have the EPA’s climate action capabilities curbed, John. On the same day the Court heard this case, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report that found that the dangers of climate change are growing much more rapidly than the world has so far shown the capacity to respond to.
John, we have an update for you:
Earlier this year, we wrote to you about the Supreme Court’s upcoming oral arguments on West Virginia v. EPA. This case will determine whether the EPA continues to have the power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
Now, oral arguments have concluded, and one of the EPA’s vital tools for combating climate change is closer to being rolled back than ever before.
West Virginia v. EPA is coming to the justices from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which struck down the Trump administration’s so-called Affordable Clean Energy Rule, which was their replacement for Obama’s 2015 Clean Power Plan.
Despite there no longer being any power plant emission reduction rule on the books, the state of West Virginia and a fringe group of coal companies still sued the EPA claiming that the future possibility of regulation was causing them harm. It is a foundational principle of American law that you can only file a lawsuit if you’ve already experienced harm and not if you only might be harmed in the future. So this should have been a simple open-and-shut case by the Supreme Court.
And yet, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the State of West Virginia’s case, sending shockwaves through court watchers, environmentalists, and the Biden administration alike. The oral arguments on February 28th gave us a clue to what the Court was thinking and unfortunately, it doesn’t look good.
We could not think of a worse time to have the EPA’s climate action capabilities curbed, John.
On the same day the Court heard this case, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report that found that the dangers of climate change are growing much more rapidly than the world has so far shown the capacity to respond to. The timing for the Court’s actions couldn’t be any direr. We cannot let this ultra-conservative Supreme Court undermine the EPA. Stand with SEEC members and sign our petition to tell Congress to fight back against any SCOTUS environmental rollbacks.
Counting on you,
SEEC PAC
Thanks to your help in 2020, SEEC PAC was able to re-elect over 95% of our pro-environment members to the U.S. House of Representatives — defying the odds on a night where Democrats lost seats. Now we are counting on you to help our SEEC members pass climate, clean energy and environmental justice policies in the 117th Congress while we undo the damage of the Trump Administration. But if you'd like to receive fewer emails, we understand. You can click here to only get our most important messages, or you can unsubscribe.
The Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition Political Action Committee (SEEC PAC) is an organization that supports members in the U.S. House of Representatives and candidates who fight for clean energy, climate change solutions, environmental justice, and protection of our nation’s clean air, water, wildlife, and public lands. Will you make a donation to our fight today?
Paid for and authorized by the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition Political Action Committee. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.
Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition Political Action Committee 10 E Street, SE Washington, DC 20003 United States
