EPA limits praised by agency protecting Texas air quality

As Thursday’s Supreme Court decision limiting the Clean Air Act’s ability to combat climate change roiled environmental circles, the Texas agency tasked to protect the state’s air quality welcomed the ruling.

“We are pleased that the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with our long-standing position that the Clean Power Plan went beyond EPA’s authority, absent clear delegation from Congress,” said Gary Rasp, a spokesperson for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Thursday’s ruling is part of a larger legal battle to limit how far the Clean Air Act can be used to fight climate change — ostensibly handcuffing the Biden Administration’s ambitions in lowering greenhouse emissions in the U.S.

“Capping carbon dioxide emissions at a level that will force a nationwide transition away from the use of coal to generate electricity may be a sensible ‘solution to the crisis of the day,’” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his opinion to the court.

However, it’s not plausible that Congress gave the EPA authority to adopt on its own such regulatory scheme, Roberts wrote. A decision of this magnitude and consequence rests with Congress, or an agency acting in accordance to a clear delegation from that representative body.

The ruling in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency limits the authority of the EPA, weakening the executive branch’s position in fighting global warming. It is a result of the multiyear effort by Republican legal activists to use the judicial system to rewrite environmental law, the New York Times reports.

President Joe Biden called the ruling “another devastating decision that aims to take our country backwards.” The Associated Press reported he said he will continue to use his authority when possible to protect public health and address climate change.

Power plants account for roughly 30% of carbon dioxide output nationally, according to the AP.

Nearly 90% of Texas get their energy from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). The independent non-profit manages the flow of power to roughly 26 million customers in the state. The group declined to comment, stating in an email that it does not comment on legal matters.

What is the Clean Air Act?

The Clean Air Act was enacted in 1970 — at the start of the environmental movement — and has since been the source of regulations on air pollution, including soot, smog, mercury and the chemicals that cause acid rain.

The law changed the role of the federal government in controlling air pollution. It laid out comprehensive national and statewide regulations to limit emissions from industry and vehicles.

The law has four main components:

• Put into place National Ambient Air Quality Standards which are intended to protect human health and environment (the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed these standards and they targeted major polluting chemicals).

• The EPA was to establish New Source Performance Standards to determine how much pollution should be allowed by different industries in different regions.

• The Act specified standards for controlling auto emissions, aiming at reduction of various gases by almost 90%.

• It encouraged states to develop plans to achieve these standards and required that those state plans be approved by the EPA.

What does the ruling mean to Texas?

In 2015, the Obama Administration unveiled the final version of the Clean Power Plan — a policy designed to beat back climate change, assigning states the task of figuring out how they might reduce carbon emissions. The plan came with a caveat that if individual states did not come up with a plan the EPA would step in.

Three years later, Texas Republicans were cheering the Trump Administration’s rollback of the Obama policy. Texas had sued over the plan to curb carbon emissions, calling it “federal overreach.”

“I’m glad to see President Trump remains committed to eliminating job-killing Obama regulations that for years were a wet blanket on the Texas economy,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-TX, said in a statement at the time.

Energy experts said the move did not mean much in Texas since the state’s power plants are mostly fueled by natural gas. The policy was geared to regulate coal plant emissions, an industry that is losing importance in Texas.