Supreme Court:
Order delaying new clean power rules worries environmentalists.
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration asserted Wednesday that a Supreme Court order delaying enforcement of its new clean power rules will ultimately have little impact on meeting the nation’s obligations under the recent Paris climate agreement.
But environmentalists and academic experts are more nervous.
They are concerned that any significant pause in implementing mandated reductions in carbon dioxide emissions from coal- fired power plants will imperil the credibility of the Unites States to lead on climate change, while increasing worries both at home and abroad that the whole international agreement might unravel if a Republican wins the White House in November.
Nearly 200 countries agreed in December to cut or limit heat- trapping greenhouse gases in the first global treaty to try to limit the worst predicted impacts of climate change. The goal is to limit warming to no more than an additional 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit. Each nation set its own goals under the treaty, and President Obama committed the United States to make a 26 to 28 percent cut in U. S. emissions by 2030.
The Clean Power Plan is seen as essential to meeting that goal, requiring a one- third reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants over the next 15 years. Even before the Environmental Protection Agency released the plan last year, a long list of mostly Republican states that are economically dependent on coal mining and oil production announced they would sue.
Though the case is still pending before an appeals court in Washington, a 5- 4 majority on the Supreme Court issued a surprising order on Tuesday barring any enforcement of the plan until the legal challenge is resolved. Whichever side loses at the appeals level is almost certain to petition for review by the high court, almost certainly freezing any significant action on the plan’s goals until after Obama’s term expires in January 2017.
“The court’s stay, although procedural, clearly signals trouble for the clean power plan,” said John Sterman, an MIT professor who created an intricate computer model that simulates the effects of cuts in greenhouse gas emissions on global warming. “Without serious policies to promote efficiency, renewables, and low- carbon energy, there is little chance the U. S. will be able to meet its emissionsreduction pledge, undermining the willingness of many other nations to meet their commitments.”
Obama has staked much of his second term on building a legacy on climate change surpassing that of any of his predecessors.
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia, whose coal- dependent state is helping lead the lawsuit against Obama’s plan, said for him, opposition to the emissions limits has “nothing to do with climate change.” Rather, it’s about protecting coal- mining jobs.