Obama Vows to Press Ahead on Clean Power Plan After Setback

The administration of President Barack Obama is vowing to press ahead with efforts to curtail greenhouse gas emissions after a divided Supreme Court put his signature plan to address climate change on hold until after legal challenges are resolved
Obama Vows to Press Ahead on Clean Power Plan After Setback
President Barack Obama at a news conference in the White House Brady Press Briefing Room in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 18, 2015. AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
The Associated Press
Updated:

WASHINGTON—The administration of President Barack Obama is vowing to press ahead with efforts to curtail greenhouse gas emissions after a divided Supreme Court put his signature plan to address climate change on hold until after legal challenges are resolved.

Tuesday’s surprising move by the court is a blow to Obama and a victory for the coalition of 27 mostly Republican-led states and industry opponents, who call the regulations “an unprecedented power grab.”

By issuing the temporary freeze, a 5-4 majority of the justices signaled that opponents made strong arguments against the rules. The high court’s four liberal justices said they would have denied the request for delay.

The administration’s plan aims to stave off the worst predicted impacts of climate change by reducing carbon dioxide emissions at existing power plants by about one-third by 2030.

Exhaust plumes from cooling towers at the Jaenschwalde lignite coal-fired power station at Jaenschwalde, Germany, on March 20, 2007. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Exhaust plumes from cooling towers at the Jaenschwalde lignite coal-fired power station at Jaenschwalde, Germany, on March 20, 2007. Sean Gallup/Getty Images