SCOTUS’ EPA ruling is a small but hopeful sign for economy

Climate activism has done major harm to the economy, but Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency offers hope for easing the pain. 

The justices ruled that Congress must explicitly grant federal agencies the power to make broad regulatory decisions before they can do so. That defangs an Obama-era mandate on power plants and blocks President Biden from resuscitating it; the administration would need Congress’ OK first. 

That mandate could’ve crushed generation capacity with onerous requirements for curbing emissions and using alternative power sources — with zero respect for the rule of law, the damage it would to do a key economic sector or the effect on energy prices for average Americans. 

Meanwhile, the nation is already struggling under the worst inflation in decades, sparked in part by climate activists’ success in limiting the use of fossil fuels. Biden has touted our “incredible transition” away from fossil fuels but then blames Vladimir Putin and price-gouging companies for fueling higher gas and other energy prices.

Putting a chokehold on US energy from coal, oil and gas has long been a priority for Dems, but they often lack the numbers to take real legislative action, as with their cap-and-trade plan in 2009. So they turn to federal agencies and executive action to get around the lack of Congressional approval. Recall how President Barack Obama bragged that he had “a pen and a phone” — i.e., who needs Congress?

Sorry, but that’s not how it’s supposed to work, as the ruling makes clear. Here’s hoping Dems get the message and stop end-running the law when it fails to do what they want — and crashing the economy to appease green activists in the process.