Supreme Court Curbs EPA’s Ability to Fight Climate Change

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACT: Stefanie Spear, [email protected], 216-387-1609

BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA—JUNE 30, 2022—Today, the Supreme Court defied years of precedent and ignored Congressional intent in denying the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority to respond to new pollution sources including regulating carbon emissions from existing power plants.

The court’s 6-3 decision in West Virginia v. EPA severely restricts the EPA's ability to protect citizens from pollution sources, including responding to the most immediate need to reduce the severity of human-caused global warming at the scale and pace that science dictates.  

Shareholders have been clear that climate change is creating systemic economic risk. Business cannot flourish with the uncertainty and costs posed by climate change. From burgeoning insurance company losses to computer chip supply-chain disruption due to historic weather events, the impacts of a warming globe are already impeding commerce. 

The Supreme Court’s action to disempower the federal agency tasked with addressing methane, carbon dioxide, and other greenhouse gas pollutants highlights the need for Congress to move more expeditiously to pass ambitious climate legislation and provide economic support for federal clean energy investments at scale.

Danielle Fugere, president of As You Sow, made the following statement:

“With this session’s rulings, it has become clear that the Supreme Court of the United States is now untethered from both precedent and reason. It is difficult to fathom what drives the majority members of the court to tear down the very systems that have made life livable, the sky clear, and waters clean. This democratic nation cannot stand under the tyranny of an institution so far removed from the needs of the society they claim to serve and so willing to ignore precedent and clearly stated Congressional mandates. Asking Congress to become experts on complicated scientific matters and attempt to reasonably regulate them is farcical.”

Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, made the following statement:

“This decision flies in the face of corporate demand to address greenhouse gas emissions and will leave the U.S. economy behind Europe, China, and other nations driving low carbon technology development. Investors with trillions of assets under management are moving to decarbonize their portfolios to achieve net-zero emissions and thousands of the world’s largest companies, many in the S&P500, are setting targets for their operations and value chains to drawdown their emissions to net-zero. But an even playing field and clear regulatory guidelines from EPA are necessary to drive progress across the economy.”

For more information on As You Sow’s work on climate change, click here.

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As You Sow is the nation’s leading shareholder advocacy nonprofit, with a 30-year track record promoting environmental and social corporate responsibility and advancing values-aligned investing. Its issue areas include climate change, ocean plastics, pesticides, racial justice, workplace diversity, and executive compensation. Click here for As You Sow’s shareholder resolution tracker.