Hirono Statement on SCOTUS Decision to Restrict EPA Authority

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, released the following statement regarding the Supreme Court’s decision in West Virginia v. EPA:

“Once again, the extremist right-wing majority on the Supreme Court has made a harmful decision that will have detrimental consequences on the lives of people for generations to come. The devastating impacts of climate change are clear, and restricting the EPA’s authority to reduce carbon pollution and cut fossil fuel emissions will only expedite these consequences, putting the wellbeing of our families and communities at risk. This decision sets a dangerous precedent and poses a great threat to public health and the future of our planet.”

This decision, driven by the right-wing majority on the Supreme Court, restricts the scope of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions by holding that EPA cannot set standards that reflect the full extent of possibilities in shifting the power sector towards renewable energy and other less-polluting power sources. In the months leading up to the decision, many observers correctly warned that the Court would use the case not only to limit the ways in which the EPA can regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, but also to establish a novel legal doctrine that would give anti-regulation judges a potent tool for striking down other federal regulations that require industries to spend money to protect the wellbeing of the public.

In January, Senator Hirono joined over 190 congressional Democrats in submitting an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in this case. The brief supported the EPA’s authority to combat air pollution, including the greenhouse gas pollution that causes climate change. In 2020, Senator Hirono also introduced the Clean Economy Act, which would have required the United States to reach net-zero greenhouse emissions by no later than 2050, in an effort to combat the consequences of climate change.

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