Twenty-Three AGs Defended EPA’s Authority to Regulate Power Plant Emissions

JANUARY 18, 2022

New York Attorney General Letitia James led a coalition of 23 attorneys general in filing a brief in the Supreme Court in a dispute over the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In November 2021, the Court made the decision to hear a case about a Trump-era regulation that had to do with EPA’s authority to regulate GHG emissions produced by power plants. Although the D.C. Circuit struck down the regulation and the Biden EPA declined to defend it, the Court granted a request from state petitioners and industry groups to review the judgment of the court of appeals. The coalition argued that by entertaining the review, the Court could not only undermine efforts needed to address the climate crisis but also contravene longstanding precedent against issuing advisory rulings.