WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court dealt a blow to President Obama's signature climate change initiative Tuesday by halting the administration's effort to reduce pollution from coal-fired power plants while a legal battle rages on.
The move by the court's five conservative members was a shock to environmentalists, who had hoped the justices would deny -- as a federal appeals court did last month -- a petition filed by 29 mostly Republican-led states and industry leaders.
Now the Environmental Protection Agency must halt enforcement of the so-called "Clean Power Plan" until the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decides on the merits of the GOP-industry lawsuit against it. Oral arguments are set for early June.
Even if the plan is upheld at the lower court, it could not be implemented until the Supreme Court has had the final word. That likely would push the battle into 2017 or beyond.
"This stay will remain in place until the challenges have made their way through the Supreme Court, by which time Obama will likely have left office," said Curt Levey, executive director of the conservative FreedomWorks Foundation. "Thus, the stay may well be a fatal blow to the EPA’s attempt to dramatically expand its power and to the administration’s attempt to shove its climate change agenda down the throats of the American people."
All four of the court's more liberal justices said they would have denied the petition filed by opponents of the plan and let implementation continue. That gave the court order an ideological slant.
Another complication: The initiative is a major part of the administration's contribution to a historic climate change agreement reached in Paris in December by 195 nations. With the Supreme Court's hold in place, the United States may have trouble holding up its part of the deal.
