An appeals court decision to uphold proposed federal greenhouse gas rules may shift the fight over regulating the heat-trapping emissions back to Congress, where lawmakers may step up efforts to diminish the EPA’s power or renew efforts to set a price on carbon, experts said.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Monday unanimously ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) finding that carbon dioxide is a public danger and the decision to set limits for emissions from cars and light trucks were legal.
The ruling upheld the underpinnings of the Obama administration’s push to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, dealing a blow to the heavy industries including electric utilities and states like Texas who have sought to strip the EPA of its authority.
Despite the legal victory by the EPA, experts are expecting opponents to continue their challenge to the greenhouse gas regulations in Congress, where both industry and environmental groups are expected to try to torpedo or protect the controversial rules.
“As for more legal challenges, the various petitioners are still looking at their options, but I think they face an uphill battle,” said Jeff Holmstead, head of the environmental strategies group at Bracewell & Giuliani.
“The action will mainly shift to the Hill, and I think there will be an effort to limit or even eliminate EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act,” he added, referring to the existing law, which the EPA will expand to tackle carbon.
One opponent of the EPA’s greenhouse gas rules said that after the court decision, Congress must pass bills that have been floated in the House and Senate to try to strip the EPA of its authority to use the Clean Air Act to regulate carbon.
“Congress now has a responsibility to reform the Clean Air Act to remove the deference most courts give to EPA’s technical judgment and to refine the definition of air pollution in the act,” said Kathleen Hartnett White, director of the Armstrong Center for Energy and the Environment at the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation.
She said the Senate should follow the lead of the House of Representatives, which passed such a bill last year.
Bracewell’s Holmstead said the upcoming presidential election will influence congressional action on the regulation.
