How Supreme Court hearing today will shake Climate politics

(This story was first published by ClimateCrisis247 partner CallawayClimateInsights.com)

Climate politics was always going to be a feature of the 2024 election year, but a Supreme Court ruling on a case heard this week threatens to divide red and blue states on environmental regulation — and more — in the biggest way since Roe v. Wade was overturned two years ago.

In a hearing Wednesday on a case about a legal doctrine known as the Chevron deference, the court will potentially decide whether federal regulatory agencies have the authority to interpret laws passed by Congress as they implement them. A ruling against the doctrine, which has been in place since 1984, would effectively allow state and local judges to interpret laws their own way, and dramatically weaken agencies ranging from the EPA to the SEC.

The high court decided 40 years ago that too many lower court judges were interpreting federal law along their own political party lines, and so the power of federal agencies was greatly expanded. Going back to that standard, while it cuts both ways depending on which state you are in, would throw climate regulation into chaos just as the election campaigns hit high gear.

The high court has a lot on its plate this session, but if it stuck to its tradition of ruling within 90 days of an oral hearing, we’d get a decision in mid-April. For investors hoping that a new era of lower interest rates will help clean technology projects gain momentum across the country, especially those tied to government funding from the new Inflation Reduction Act, the impending ruling is just one more hurdle to look past in a challenging year for climate politics.

With John Kerry retiring from his climate czar job, and campaign strategists calculating what a victory by Donald Trump in November could do to the government’s climate agenda, U.S. allies might be forgiven for thinking that this year is already a wash. . . .