The Supreme Court allows the regulation limiting pollution from coal-fired power plants to remain in force

WASHINGTON— The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed a Biden administration regulation aimed at limiting planet-warming pollution from coal-fired power plants to remain in effect, pending legal challenges.

The justices rejected a push by Republican-led states and industry groups to block the Environmental Protection Agency’s rule. This is the third time this month that the conservative majority has left an environmental regulation in place for now.

One judge, Clarence Thomas, publicly dissented.

Two other conservative justices, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, said in a brief order that they expected the challengers would likely eventually prevail on at least some of their claims. But the rule doesn’t need to be blocked now because compliance work wouldn’t have to begin until June 2025 and the case could end up back before the Supreme Court relatively quickly, Kavanaugh wrote.

Justice Samuel Alito did not attend.

The rule requires many coal-fired power plants to capture 90% of their carbon emissions or shut down within eight years, with deadlines taking effect for several years. The challengers argued that the EPA had exceeded and imposed unattainable standards.

Rich Nolan, president and CEO of the National Mining Association, said his group will continue to fight the rule. He said it would require power plants to deploy unaffordable technology or be shut down at a time when the country’s electricity demand is expected to double. “If this rule remains in place, the consequences for the American people and the American economy will be catastrophic,” he said.

The energy industry is the second largest contributor to climate change in the country, and the rule is a key part of President Joe Biden’s promise to eliminate carbon pollution in the power sector by 2035 and across the economy by 2050.

The Natural Resources Defense Council said the new standards are modest but important, and the court’s decision to uphold them is a win for common sense. “This is a sigh of relief for the millions of Americans suffering from the impacts of the climate crisis,” said attorney Meredith Hankins.

The Supreme Court earlier this month also left in place two other regulations aimed at reducing industrial emissions of planet-warming methane and toxic mercury.

Other environmental regulations have not fared well in the conservative-majority court in recent years. In 2022, the justices made a landmark decision limiting the EPA’s authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. In June, the court halted the agency’s “good neighbor” rule to combat air pollution.

Another ruling in June, overturning a decades-old decision known colloquially as Chevron, is expected to make it harder to set and comply with environmental regulations, among other federal actions. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce cited that ruling in court filings supporting the challenge in the coal plant case.

An appeals court had allowed the EPA’s new power plant regulations to come into force.

A panel of three judges – two nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama and one nominated by Republican President Donald Trump – concluded that states face no immediate harm because the compliance deadlines do not take effect until 2030 or 2032.

The EPA predicts the rule would provide up to $370 billion in net climate and health benefits and avoid nearly 1.4 billion tons of carbon pollution by 2047, equivalent to avoiding the annual emissions of 328 million gasoline-powered cars.