CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WV News) — State officials applauded a 6-to-3 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Thursday morning curbing the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulatory authority over power plants.
The decision, in West Virginia v. EPA, shifts the ability to regulate carbon emissions from existing power generation facilities from the EPA to Congress.
“This ruling in favor of West Virginia will stop unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., from being able to unilaterally decarbonize our economy just because they feel like it,” said Gov. Jim Justice.
“Instead, members of Congress who have been duly elected to represent the will of the people across all of America will be allowed to have a rightful say when it comes to balancing our desire for a clean environment with our need for energy and the security it provides us,” the governor said.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., also applauded the court decision.
Capito, ranking member of Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, was among the 47 Senators and 44 House members who signed an amicus brief in support of the petitioners in December 2021.
“This case was critical in making clear that EPA does not have the authority to issue regulations that transform how we use and generate electricity in this country,” said Capito. “If Congress had intended to give EPA such sweeping authority to transform an entire sector of our economy, Congress would have done so explicitly.
The decision overrules a previous ruling from the Washington Circuit Court of Appeals, said West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.
“We are pleased this case returned the power to decide one of the major environmental issues of the day to the right place to decide it: the U.S. Congress, comprised of those elected by the people to serve the people,” Morrisey said. “This is about maintaining the separation of powers, not climate change. Today, the Court made the correct decision to rein in the EPA, an unelected bureaucracy. And we’re not done. My office will continue to fight for the rights of West Virginians when those in Washington try to go too far in asserting broad powers without the people’s support.”
“Reining in the unchecked power of federal agencies,” was the issue at the heart of the case, said Chris Hamilton, president and CEO of the West Virginia Coal Association.
“We are thrilled that the Supreme Court agreed with Attorney General Morrisey’s arguments and signaling that Congressional approval is necessary when addressing major policy questions,” he said. “Congress, not unelected bureaucrats, should be the governing body that establishes the laws of this land.”