The supreme court agreed to block Barack Obama’s clean power plan on Tuesday, raising fears that the centrepiece of his climate change plan could be overturned.
The unexpected decision creates instant uncertainty about the future of Obama’s climate plan and the historic global agreement to fight climate change reached in Paris last December.
The White House registered its immediate disapproval, and said in a statement that the administration would continue taking “aggressive steps” to reduce climate pollution. “We disagree with the supreme court’s decision,” the White House said.
But officials told reporters in a conference call that they remained confident this was a “bump in the road”, and that the plan would prevail.
The officials also said Obama had been briefed and would speak on the decisions soon.
The surprising vote by the justices put a temporary freeze on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules cutting carbon emissions from power plants until the Washington DC circuit court of appeals hears challenges from 29, mainly Republican-led states, and dozens of corporations and industry groups. Arguments are scheduled for 2 June.
The 5-4 decision for a stay came as a shock to the EPA and environmental campaign groups, and was widely seen as a sign that opponents of the power-plant rules have made a strong argument against the plan.
“We’re disappointed the rule has been stayed, but you can’t stay climate change and you can’t stay climate action,” said Melissa Harrison, an EPA spokeswoman. “We believe strongly in this rule and we will continue working with our partners to address carbon pollution.”
Margie Alt, the director of Environment America said in a statement: “This decision is a huge loss for our kids’ future and for all Americans who care about the health of our planet, and a huge win for the polluters and the deniers.” She added that she hoped it would only be a temporary setback.
“It is not what we had hoped for,” Joanne Spalding, senior climate counsel for the Sierra Club, said. “We are disappointed.”
Opponents of the EPA rules – who had described the clean power plan as a “war on coal” – said the stay was an indication the carbon cutting regulations would eventually be overturned.
West Virginia, one of the states leading the legal challenge, said it was thrilled at the outcome.
“Make no mistake – this is a great victory for West Virginia,” Patrick Morrisey, the state’s attorney general, said in a statement.
The main lobby group for the coal industry claimed the decision indicated the supreme court was leaning in their favor on the broader legal challenge.
“We are pleased the supreme court took this unprecedented step to protect the states from further economic harm while the courts are deciding whether the administration’s power plan is unlawful and unconstitutional,” said Mike Duncan, president of Americans for Clean Coal Electricity. “The stay is a signal the supreme court has serious concerns with the power plan. We’re optimistic the power plan will ultimately be rejected.”
Republicans in Congress claimed the stay was a rebuke to Obama’s use of his executive powers to fight climate change – in the absence of any legislative efforts. “Today’s decision by the Supreme Court is an important step toward reining in the Obama administration’s unprecedented abuse of executive power,” Deb Fischer, Republican Senator from Nebraska, said in a statement.
So the usual suspects are making progress as difficult as possible, it’s like they really do not believe what the scientists are telling us:
Even with decades of melting, much of the world’s water lies trapped in ice that sits on land. If Antarctic ice melted entirely, it’s estimated that ocean levels would rise by roughly 60 meters—a nearly incomprehensible figure.
But a lot of it wouldn’t reach the ocean by melting. Instead, large areas of the Antarctic ice sheet sit on rock that’s below sea level. Were the ocean to reach these sheets, the ice would break up and float off while melting, a process that could raise sea levels relatively suddenly. Now, researchers have performed a catalog of all of the ice that empties into the ocean in Antarctica, allowing us to identify those that pose the largest threat of rapid sea-level rise.
