Topline
Friday's Supreme Court hearing will include several cases challenging the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to reduce emissions from power plants. This could be a significant roadblock for the Biden administration, which seeks to reduce greenhouse gas production.
The Big Bend coal-fired power plant is situated on Florida's West Coast south of Tampa. Corbis via Getty Images
The Key Facts
What to Watch
The Supreme Court combined the four petitions into one case. The Supreme Court releases its opinions in the latter part of the term, usually in June or July. However, the court did not specify a time frame for the EPA case.
Important Background
In 2015, former President Barack Obama unveiled the Clean Power Plan. It aimed to shift the country's electricity away from coal-fired power in favor of cleaner natural gas and less-emissions sources such as solar and wind. The plan was temporarily stopped by the Supreme Court in 2016, after it went into effect. This was due to lawsuits from many Republican-led states. In 2017, former President Donald Trump rescinded the plan. Two years later, Trump's EPA replaced the plan with a much more limited set regulations known as the Affordable Clean Energy Rule. Advocates and state officials argued that the plan didn't meet the EPAs duty of limiting pollution. This led to a legal challenge. Circuit Court of Appeals will stop Trump's January regulations.
Tangent
President Joe Biden hopes that carbon pollution will be reduced from U.S. electricity production by 2030. He also aims to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions by half of 2005 levels within nine years. This could be a challenging goal, as the United States currently gets 60% of its electricity from fossil fuels. Nearly 20% of this comes from coal. Biden's options could be limited if the Supreme Court reduces the EPAs regulatory authority.
