Is This Really A Good Idea? The Supreme Court Will Allow Power Plants to Handle Their Waste

July 12, 2022

Mountaineer News

A new Supreme Court ruling is giving power plants the option to regulate their own carbon dioxide emissions, potentially taking major steps backward from the progress towards sustainability.

The West Virginia v. EPA law was ruled six to three in favor of plaintiffs whose case argued that the Environmental Protection Agency does not have the authority to regulate power plants’ emissions without the intervention of Congress.

Power plants are the nation’s second-largest source of CO2 emissions. Currently, the EPA is not actively regulating emissions and will not be able to do so after this ruling.

Interestingly, those who voted to overturn the ruling were reportedly backed by the Koch brothers, pro-oil and pro-gas billionaires who funded the campaigns of the political leaders involved in the case. One of the brothers, Charles Koch, was also noted to be heavily involved in the conditions for this case.

So, after many years of trying to fight climate change, it seems like we’re back to ground zero again.