The EPA does not have the authority to set standards for greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.
The EPA does not have that power according to the ruling.
The Clean Air Act allows the federal government to set standards for pollutants like carbon dioxide from existing power plants if they are found to be harmful to the environment.
The decision is a major blow to the Biden administration's goal of halving the country's greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the decade.
In 2015, the EPA told coal power plants to either reduce production or subsidize alternative forms of energy. The order was challenged in court.
The EPA says fossil fuel-fired power plants are the second largest source of pollution in the US. The U.S. is a key player in global efforts to combat climate change because it is the second largest producer of greenhouse gases.
The Supreme Court's other five conservatives joined Chief Justice John Roberts in writing the majority opinion in the case.
There is no reason for Congress to assign such decisions about the regulations in question to the EPA, according to Roberts.
"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."
The decision of such magnitude and consequence rests with Congress itself or an agency acting pursuant to a clear delegation from that body.
The court's two other liberals joined Elena Kagan in writing a dissent.
The EPA's power to respond to the most pressing environmental challenge of our time has been stripped by the court.
The court makes the decision on climate policy. I can't think of a more frightening thing.
The federal agency's authority to set national standards has been questioned by the court's six justice conservatives.
The legal fight over the EPA's authority began several years ago when the Obama administration set strict carbon limits for each state in an effort to reduce emissions from power plants.
The Obama administration's Clean Power Plan was temporarily blocked by the Supreme Court in 2016 and then repealed by the Trump administration because it exceeded the EPA's authority under the Clean Air Act. The act only allowed the agency to set standards inside a power plant, according to the argument.
TheAffordable Clean Energy Rule proposed by the Trump administration would only regulate emissions from coal-fired steam plants. The revision was struck down by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
There hasn't been an EPA standard for carbon pollution from power plants since then.
Republican attorneys general led by West Virginia, a major coal producer, along with coal companies and industry groups, pursued the case, arguing that the EPA doesn't have the authority to transition the country to cleaner energy sources
Lawyers for the EPA and U.S. utility industry lobby groups argued against the idea of limiting the agency's authority.
The Clean Power Plan will not be resurrected by the EPA under the Biden administration.
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