On the last day of its term, the U.S. Supreme Court released its decision in the biggest climate case in fifteen years. In declaring the Obama-era Clean Power Plan unlawful while preserving much of EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the Supreme Court formally recognizes the “major questions doctrine” for the first time in a majority opinion.
This panel will consider the implications of the Court’s opinion for both climate regulation and agency rulemaking more broadly and how the decision might limit the Biden Administration’s “whole of government” approach to climate change or discourage agencies from trying to solve big and novel problems using existing authority.