EPA Authority Dispute: Obama Administration's Regulation of Greenhouse Gases Without Congressional Consent

Allysia Finley discusses the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) claim of authority to regulate greenhouse gases independently of congressional approval. She explains that the Obama administration attempted to revoke a 2007 Supreme Court ruling which mandated EPA regulation of carbon dioxide emissions when they threaten public health and welfare. In 2007, the Supreme Court determined that the EPA must act if greenhouse gases pose a danger. The Obama administration took the position that greenhouse gases are a public threat and that EPA had the authority to regulate them without explicit congressional approval, effectively bypassing Congress. However, the Trump administration challenged this view, asserting that such regulatory authority was not explicitly granted by law and that previous actions by the Obama and Biden administrations overstepped congressional powers. The Trump EPA emphasized a more restrained interpretation of legal authority, highlighting a shift in regulatory approach.