Supreme Court refuses to interfere in EPA litigation, for now

Supreme Court refuses to interfere in EPA litigation, for now toggle caption Kent Nishimura/Getty Images The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to block a set of Biden administration regulations aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants while the rule was being challenged in lower courts. Wednesday’s order comes weeks after the court refused to block new anti-pollution rules that impose tougher standards on mercury emissions from coal-fired plants and that regulate methane emissions from crude-oil and natural gas facilities. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch, wrote separately, saying that while the plaintiffs “are unlikely to suffer irreparable harm before the Court of Appeals for the D. C. Circuit decides the merits” they believe that challengers did show a strong likelihood of success in some of their challenges to the rule. Last summer, the court temporarily blocked the EPA's "Good Neighbor Plan" in a 5-4 vote, ruling that the emissions-reductions standards set by the plan were likely to cause "irreparable harm" to almost half the states unless the court halted the rule pending further review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.