Supreme Court Narrows EPA’s Ability to Regulate Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Chief Justice John Roberts at the Supreme Court Building in Washington on Nov. 30, 2018. J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo

The Supreme Court ruled 6–3 on June 30 that the Clean Air Act doesn’t give the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) widespread power to regulate carbon dioxide emissions that a popular theory says contribute to global warming.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the court’s majority opinion (pdf) in West Virginia v. EPA, court file 20-1530. Roberts was joined by the court’s other five conservatives. The court’s three liberal justices dissented.