Supreme Court rules against EPA, hosting the perfect barbecue: 5 Things podcast
On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Supreme Court rules against EPA effort to regulate power plant emissions
The decision is a major climate suit, as Supreme Court correspondent John Fritze explains. Plus, at least 18 are dead after a Russian attack on an Odesa region apartment building, several are charged linked with the San Antonio migrant deaths, reporter Jordan Mendoza gives a gas price update ahead of the holiday weekend and we talk food for the Fourth.
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Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Friday, the 1st of July, 2022. Today, a monumental Supreme Court decision on climate, plus charges in the devastating Texas migrant deaths, and more.
Here are some of the top headlines:
The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the Biden Administration can scrap a Trump era immigration policy and made asylum seekers wait in Mexico for hearings in US immigration courts. The ruling will have little immediate impact because the policy was seldom applied under Biden, who reinstated it under a court order in December.
A 71-year-old woman has been gored by a bison at Yellowstone National Park. It's the second time this week and third time this year that a similar incident has happened. She suffered non-life threatening injuries.
And NBA star Kevin Durant appears on the move again. The Brooklyn Nets star asked for a trade yesterday.
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The Supreme Court yesterday ruled against an environmental protection agency effort to regulate power plant emissions. The decision sends a blow to the Biden Administration in one of the most significant climate cases decided by the high court in more than a decade. Supreme Court correspondent, John Fritze breaks it down.
John Fritze:
Experts viewed this case as the most important climate case to come before the Supreme Court in probably decades. It essentially raised the question of whether the EPA had the authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate power plant emissions. The EPA law and some of these other environmental laws are a little squishy in what they mean. They say things like pollutants and both sides have to sit around and debate about what exactly that means. But in the 6-3 decision by the Supreme Court, the justices said that Congress did not expressly give the EPA authority to regulate power plant emissions. And the rule that the Obama Administration had passed would not pass muster in their view.
So what's interesting about this decision and several others from this term is that the court went beyond just deciding the issue and really reached into creating a new standard for how to look at these kinds of cases. In this case, the court raised this thing called the major questions doctrine. And what that basically is, is the Supreme Court is telling lower courts to, hey, if you've got a situation where an agency is making a rule or a regulation without expressed authorization from Congress, in other words, it doesn't say explicitly in the law that they can do it, and that regulation has a big impact on the economy, then it's out.
And so, they're basically saying like, look, if it's a big deal and you don't have approval from Congress, you can't do it. And that could have really sweeping implications far beyond the environmental law, although environmental law is the place where it's most likely to crop up, but chief workplace rules, public health rules, all sorts of regulations by all sorts of agencies could be in question.
Taylor Wilson:
You can find John's full story with a link in today's episode description.
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At least 18 people were killed and 30 injured in a Russian attack on an apartment building in Southern Ukraine's Odessa region yesterday. That comes a day after Russian troops abandoned their position on Snake Island off the coast of Odessa that has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance to Russia's invasion. A spokesperson for Odessa's military administration said the strike on the nine-story building was launched by aircraft in the Black Sea. At least two dead were children. The attack follows one on a shopping mall in Central Ukraine earlier this week that also killed 18. A thousand people were inside the mall when the missile struck. Russian President Vladimir Putin though, denied his forces targeted the mall, saying his country does not hit civilian facilities and alleging the airstrike was directed at a nearby weapons depot.
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Two Mexican citizens are due in court today, potentially linked to the devastating migrant deaths in San Antonio last weekend. Juan Claudio D'Luna-Mendez and Juan Francisco D'Luna-Bilbao faced charges of possessing a weapon while in the US illegally. Neither has been charged in the smuggling conspiracy, but federal authorities linked them to the truck were at least 53 people were found dead in Texas heat. The alleged driver of the truck, Homero Zamorano was also arrested. He's been charged with one count of smuggling resulting in death and was scheduled for a court appearance yesterday. Another, Christian Martinez, has also been charged. Officials have called the tragedy likely the deadliest smuggling incident in US history.
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Taylor Wilson:
4th of July travelers will have some relief at the pump, though, gas prices are still at levels, never before seen for the holiday weekend. Reporter Jordan Mendoza has some tips on filling up before heading out of town.
Jordan Mendoza:
Gas prices, they're still really expensive, but what we also are seeing is that they're declining at a much better rate than we've seen in recent months. So yes, it's more expensive than it was during Memorial Day weekend and it's the most expensive it's ever been for a 4th of July weekend, but the silver lining to it is that the prices are consistently going down in recent weeks. So it's kind of a little bit of a, it sucks for a lot of people, but for people that do get gas on a frequent basis, they're starting to feel a little bit more of ease at the pump.
There's numerous factors that could be going into this. One thing is that the price of oil has been dipping globally. And while prices are still going up, the demand is almost kind of leveling off and that's going to be really something interesting to see what happens on the 4th of July because there's going to be so many people taking road trips, we're really going to find out if the demand for gas is going to play into effect and prices possibly starting to increase again. It's nice that we are feeling some relief at the pump, but experts are really concerned about thinking out two or three weeks ahead, because they really are starting to get to a point where it's fluctuating so much recently that they aren't sure. And so while it may be nice that we have some ease at the pump, it also could just be starting to rise up again in the next coming weeks as well.
Usually you always hear that the sooner, the better for filling up on gas, if you're going to take a road trip. Right now, it's actually not going to hurt if you wait till the day of to fill up on gas. And that's because we see prices, like experts are pretty confident that the prices are going to drop maybe 1 or 2 cents throughout the weekend. If you are planning to go on a road trip on Friday, you don't need to fill up on Wednesday or Thursday. You can fill up right before you go. So really, you can take that into consideration. It's not going to hurt you to wait to the day of.
Another thing that people all should just be concerned about is, if you're taking a trip through different states, you should be mindful of which states have the cheaper gas, because once you cross a state border, that can dramatically change the price of gas that you'll see. And it could be within a five-mile radius, you can have one station that's charging $6 and on the other side in another state, you can have it charging around $4. So really, be mindful if you're taking out-of-state trips and things like that. There is some ease at the pump, so it's not going to be hurting as much as it was a couple of weeks ago.
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Taylor Wilson:
Coming up on this weekend's Sunday Edition of 5 Things, how to throw the perfect barbecue. Here's a look ahead.
James Brown:
Hi, I'm James Brown. And on the Sunday Edition of 5 Things, we're throwing a barbecue just in time for the 4th of July. We're bringing in Pig Beach barbecue owner, Shane McBride and Matt Abdoo, to discuss how they put together their perfect barbecue, including what goes into their spread.
Shane McBride:
Right? A barbecue is about hopefully bringing a bunch of people together, minimum group of 10. When you're cooking barbecue, most big format meats do feed large groups of people. Personally, I would love to have a spread. Wouldn't you?
Matt Abdoo:
Yeah.
Shane McBride:
Like you have a little chicken, have a little brisket, have a little pork, pulled pork or ribs, or both. Throw a couple sausages in the mix.
Matt Abdoo:
Got to have some chicken wings.
Shane McBride:
Some chicken wings. And kind of just the more the merrier. Really, if you have the time to cook it all, and you're planning a big feast for some friends coming over on a barbecue day, you want to check all those boxes. Definitely have some form of poultry, have some form of beef, have some form of pork. And then from there are sides. I'm always a huge fan in the summertime of cold sides, things like a coleslaw or a nice corn salad when you're in peak corn season in the summertime. Things like that for me would be great. Have some watermelon. You got to have some nice fresh fruit, a hot summer day is a perfect addition to any barbecue.
Matt Abdoo:
Tomato salad.
Shane McBride:
Tomato salad. Ooh, that'd be good.
Matt Abdoo:
All day.
Shane McBride:
Watermelon, cucumber and feta salad. That's something kind of fancy, but very, very delicious.
James Brown:
All that and more this Sunday on 5 Things.
Taylor Wilson:
And I want to take a second to ask for your help, listeners. We're spending some time this summer considering different regional food quirks around the country. Whether it's a special type of sandwich or taco, we want to hear what your neck of the woods has to offer. Drop us a note about your favorite local cuisine at podcasts@usatoday.com, and we may reach out to get you on the show. That's podcasts@usatoday.com and we'll drop that address in today's show description.
And a reminder, we're here seven days a week on 5 Things. You can find us at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, your smart speaker device, or wherever you get your audio. Thanks to PJ Elliott for his great work on the show, and I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: SCOTUS rules against EPA, gas price update ahead of 4th: 5 Things podcast
