The Supreme Court’s decision in West Virginia v. EPA: the good, the bad, and the ugly

The Supreme Court's ruling in West Virginia v. EPA limits the EPA's ability to use 'generation shifting' as a basis for emission standards but preserves the agency's authority to mandate specific pollution control technologies. The decision also expands the 'major questions doctrine,' which may hinder federal agencies from addressing novel environmental problems without explicit congressional authorization.

• The Supreme Court ruled that the EPA lacks the authority under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act to base emission reduction standards on 'generation shifting,' which involves moving electricity production from higher-emitting sources to lower-emitting sources like wind and solar.
• Despite the ruling, the EPA retains the authority to set stringent carbon pollution standards based on technologies applied directly at the source, such as carbon capture and sequestration or co-firing with hydrogen and other zero-carbon fuels.
• The Court's decision did not overturn the Endangerment Finding or the precedent set in Massachusetts v. EPA, confirming that the EPA still has the general authority to regulate carbon dioxide from power plants.
• The ruling expands the 'major questions doctrine,' establishing a high bar for federal agencies to implement significant or novel regulations unless they can provide 'clear congressional authorization.'

APA

Duffy, J. (2022). The Supreme Court’s decision in West Virginia v. EPA: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Clean Air Task Force. https://www.catf.us/2022/07/the-supreme-courts-decision-in-west-virginia-v-epa-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/

Chicago

Duffy, Jay. The Supreme Court’s decision in West Virginia v. EPA: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Clean Air Task Force, 2022. https://www.catf.us/2022/07/the-supreme-courts-decision-in-west-virginia-v-epa-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Duffy |first1=Jay |title=The Supreme Court’s decision in West Virginia v. EPA: the good, the bad, and the ugly |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=1 July 2022 |url=https://www.catf.us/2022/07/the-supreme-courts-decision-in-west-virginia-v-epa-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{duffy2022supreme, author = {Duffy, Jay}, title = {{The Supreme Court’s decision in West Virginia v. EPA: the good, the bad, and the ugly}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2022}, month = jul, url = {https://www.catf.us/2022/07/the-supreme-courts-decision-in-west-virginia-v-epa-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }