US Supreme Court kneecaps Joe Biden’s curbs on carbon emissions

Joe Biden’s climate change agenda was dealt a severe blow by the US Supreme Court on Thursday night as it limited his authority to reduce carbon emissions.

The president, bruised from the Roe v Wade abortion ruling last week, called it a “devastating decision” as he aims for the US to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

The United Nations called it “a setback in our fight against climate change”.

The 6-3 decision is a huge blow to Mr Biden’s cornerstone agenda at a time when his popularity has hit record lows.

At 37 per cent this week, his public approval rating was at the lowest level of his 18-month presidency, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll.

It also came after two other wide-reaching Supreme Court rulings – on access to abortion and guns – that puts his administration again at odds with Trump-appointed conservative justices.

The court decided that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not have the power under the Clean Air Act anti-pollution law to set sweeping limits on emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Those plants produce nearly 20 per cent of the electricity consumed in the US.

Mr Biden said: “It’s another devastating decision that aims to take our country backwards. Today’s decision sides with special interests that have waged a long-term campaign to strip away our right to breathe clean air.

“The science confirms what we all see with our own eyes – the wildfires, droughts, extreme heat and intense storms are endangering our lives and livelihoods. Our fight against climate change must carry forward, and it will.”

A group of coal-producing states, led by West Virginia, and coal companies asked the court to limit the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants.

Patrick Morrisey, the state’s attorney general, called the ruling a “huge victory against federal overreach”.

John Roberts, the US chief justice writing for the court’s majority, said: “Capping carbon dioxide emissions at a level that will force a nationwide transition away from the use of coal to generate electricity may be a sensible solution to the crisis of the day.”

However, he said the EPA did not have “the authority to adopt on its own such a regulatory scheme.”

In a dissenting opinion, the court’s three liberal justices wrote: “Whatever else this court may know about, it does not have a clue about how to address climate change.

“The court appoints itself, instead of Congress or the expert agency, the decision-maker on climate policy. I cannot think of many things more frightening. And let’s say the obvious: the stakes here are high.”

Mitch McConnell, the Republican minority leader in the US Senate, who is from the coal mining state of Kentucky, said the ruling showed that “unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats may not write our nation’s laws”.

Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California, accused the Supreme Court of “kneecapping the EPA’s basic ability to tackle climate change”.

It was the latest Supreme Court decision this month that will have profound effects on the US.

Last week, the court overruled Roe v Wade, the 1973 decision enshrining the nationwide right to abortion.

It also expanded the rights of gun owners to carry their weapons in public.

In each case, three justices nominated by Donald Trump – Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch – were in the majority.

On Thursday night, Mr Biden accused the court of engaging in “destabilising and outrageous behaviour”, particularly over the Roe v Wade ruling.

Mr McConnell said such comments were “below the dignity of the president” and that Mr Biden’s “attacks on the court are unmerited and dangerous”.

The latest ruling indicated that the court may go further, rolling back the power of the US government to regulate in a host of areas.

In a rare victory for Mr Biden, the court on the same day ruled the US president could end one of his predecessor’s signature immigration policies.

Under Mr Trump’s “remain in Mexico” policy, asylum seekers from Central America were forced to wait in Mexico while their cases were decided in US courts.

Republicans attacked Mr Biden for “opening the border” and said it would further increase record illegal immigration.

Meanwhile, following the overturning of Roe v Wade, American men are rushing to get vasectomies, doctors claimed.

The surge has been most notable in childless men under the age of 30, they said.