Thursday, May 25, 2023

SCOTUS deals another blow to Biden’s agenda


The Supreme Court just took another swipe at the Biden administration’s regulatory authority, delivering a major win for multiple industries including oil and gas.

The court’s conservative majority vastly narrowed the reach of federal clean water protections, erasing protections for millions of acres of wetlands, write E.A. Crunden, Pamela King and Ariel Wittenberg. It also sent yet another signal of the justices’ skepticism toward federal regulations, which potentially
bodes ill for President Joe Biden’s other environmental and climate policies.

The decision will require the administration to rework a recent regulation that provided broad protections for wetlands, which trap and store carbon pollution, provide critical wildlife habitat, and soak up floodwaters, writes Annie Snider.

The ruling is a victory for homebuilders and fossil fuel companies, which need permits to build on or damage federally protected waters under the Clean Water Act. For decades, those industries and agricultural businesses have fought to limit the law’s reach.

Environmental groups decried the ruling, calling it a catastrophic loss for water protections that will imperil the nation’s wetlands...more

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